LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Political Parties: Donations

Theresa May: To ask the Leader of the House what rules govern public sector bodies' donations to political parties.

Jack Straw: Part 4 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA) regulates the giving of donations to registered political parties and their members. Section 54 of PPERA sets out clearly that only 'permissible donors' may make donations to political parties and what constitutes a 'permissable donor'.
	The Act does not set out specifically whether different types .of public sector body may be classed as permissible donors, although it does make provision in section 55 for payments to parties from public funds to be treated as permissible donations. There may also be some public bodies which fall into the various categories of permissible donor in section 54. In those cases it would be the responsibility of the political party to decide whether a public sector body that wished to make a donation is indeed a permissible donor. Any such donation would be subject to the regime laid out in PPERA governing the reporting of all donations to political parties and penalties for accepting a donation from a body that was not a permissible donor.
	In addition to the political party ensuring that the public sector body, in question is a permissible donor, anyone acting for such a body would need to consider whether it had sufficient legal authority to make a donation to a political party under the legislation (or other instrument) by which is was constituted.

TRANSPORT

Cycling: Highway Code

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 May 2007,  Official Report, column 452W, on cycling: Highway Code, for what reasons the wording was changed from "where practicable" to "where possible".

Stephen Ladyman: The consultation draft of the Highway Code issued in February 2006 included the following wording for the rule on use of cycle facilities:
	"Use cycle routes when practicable and cycle facilities such as advanced stop lines, cycle boxes and toucan crossings where they are provided, as they can make your journey safer."
	Many responses to the consultation objected to the use of the words "where they are provided" and so these words were removed from the version of rule 61 laid before Parliament on 28 March 2007, which read:
	"Use cycle routes and cycle facilities such as advanced stop lines, cycle boxes and toucan crossings whenever possible, as they can make your journey safer."
	As well as removing "where they are provided", the qualification on the use of facilities was moved towards the end of the sentence to make clear that it applies to all the types of facility mentioned in the rule and not just cycle routes. This was intended to avoid any false misapprehension that there is any degree of compulsion in the use of such facilities. As the introduction to the Highway Code makes clear, only rules that include the words "Must" or "Must Not" are mandatory.
	The wording of that qualification was been changed from "when practicable" to "wherever possible" in the interests of clarity and the use of plain English. This change does not in any way affect the substance or status of the advice.
	Rule 63 of the version of the proposed revised Highway Code laid before Parliament also included the words "wherever possible". This rule was unchanged from rule 49 of the current version of the Highway Code first published in 1999.
	However, cyclists remained concerned by the new wording. Following discussions with CTC, the cyclists' organisation, we have now proposed further changes to both rules 61 and 63, as follows:
	61 Cycle Facilities. Use cycle routes, advanced stop lines, cycle boxes and toucan crossings unless at the time it is unsafe to do so. Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer.
	63 Cycle Lanes. These are marked by a white line (which may be broken) along the carriageway (see Rule 140). When using a cycle lane, keep within the lane when practicable. When leaving a cycle lane check before pulling out that it is safe to do so and signal your intention clearly to other road users. Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer.
	We are currently seeking views from road safety, cycling and walking representative groups on these proposals. Subject to considering their views, we intend to include these revised versions of rules 61 and 63 in the new edition of the Highway Code, which we now expect to issue in September.

Galileo Project

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total cost is to British public funds of the British contribution to Galileo in each year since 1997, broken down by Department.

Stephen Ladyman: The information about the UK's contribution to the programme is not available in the form requested. The total UK contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) element of the programme since 1997 is €142 million.
	The European Union (EU) and the member states of ESA jointly fund the design and development programme for Galileo on a 50/50 basis. DTI and DfT co-fund the UK element of the ESA subscription.
	UK subscriptions already paid and future commitments to the ESA element of the programme total €142 million, of which DfT is contributing £22.45 million (approximately €31 million).
	Programme subscriptions to ESA are subject to inflationary increases and can vary from predicted profiles. UK contributions to the different phases of the programme are as follows:
	€15.3 million—subscription to the definition phase (1998 prices);
	€95.7 million—original subscription to the development phase (2001 prices);
	€31.0 million—additional contribution for the development phase (2001 prices).
	The EU's contribution to the design and development programme is made from the EC budget and is estimated by the Commission to be €790 million. The United Kingdom makes its contributions to the EC Budget as a whole and not to individual spending programmes within it. There is not therefore a specific United Kingdom contribution to the design and development programme.

Galileo Project

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much the Government plans to contribute to Galileo in the next five years, broken down by Department;
	(2)  when he expects Galileo to be fully deployed and functioning;
	(3)  what the Government's policy is on the European Commission's proposal for national governments of member states to fund the deployment phase of Galileo.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) on 23 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1353-4W.

Galileo Project

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to levy charge on operators or users of existing satellite based positioning systems in order to fund the Galileo project.

Stephen Ladyman: No.

Great Western Trains: Standards

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment his Department has made of the performance of First Great Western train services; and if he will place in the Library the most recent performance statistics available.

Tom Harris: Improving rail performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport. Joint action plans are in place between Network Rail and FGW to address performance issues. Additionally, FGW has implemented a 40-point Recovery Plan. These are monitored monthly.
	In the year to 31 March 2007 FGW achieved an average punctuality of 83.2 per cent. across the franchise as a whole and 85.6 per cent. during the preceding four week period.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Dental Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions there have been at meetings of the Joint Ministry of Defence and Department of Health Partnership Board on the provision of dental care to service families; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 The provision of dental care to service dependents was discussed at Joint Ministry of Defence and Department of Health Partnership boards during 2006.
	At the time, we were advised of initiatives being implemented by the UK Health Departments that are intended to improve access to NHS dental care throughout England, Scotland and Wales. The MOD is continuing to monitor the progress of these plans.

Departments: Advertising

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on advertising by  (a) the Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Derek Twigg: The only advertising undertaken by the Ministry of Defence is recruitment related. Details of armed forces advertising expenditure for the five years requested is not held centrally, and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. Sums spent on recruitment related advertising for the three years ending 2005-06 is available:
	
		
			   million 
			   FY 2003-04  FY 2004-05  FY 2005-06 
			 Naval service 5.753 7.242 5.903 
			 Army 7.750 15.950 21.350 
			 RAF 3.130 2.968 1.956 
			 All services 16.633 26.160 29.209 
		
	
	Civilian staffs are recruited locally and the information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ex-servicemen: Military Decorations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many veterans' badges have been issued in each region of the UK in each year since they have been available.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, a total of 453,544 badges have been issued since May 2004.
	This can be broken down as follows:
	
		
			   Badges issued 
			 May 2004 to December 2005 162,859 
			 January 2006 to December 2006 197,539 
			 January 2007 to 25 May 2007 93,146

University Officer Training Corps

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answers of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1292W, on the University Officer Training Corps, which universities have University Officer Training Corps; what the approved strength is of each; and how many trainees are enrolled at each.

Adam Ingram: Historically, many of the University Officer Training Corps (UOTCs) were affiliated to single universities. With the rise in the number of tertiary education establishments, this has changed. Although many UOTCs are situated in, and take their title from a particular city, they have a substantial footprint covering over 130 universities and colleges. For example, Wales UOTC, based in Cardiff, covers the entire Principality and London UOTC serves 51 tertiary education establishments within the capital and the home counties.
	The locations, respective establishments and current strengths of the UOTCs are as follows:
	
		
			  UOTC locations  Established strengths  Enrolled number of officer cadets (as at 31 March 2007) 
			 Aberdeen 138 242 
			 Belfast 138 191 
			 Birmingham 138 219 
			 Bristol 138 240 
			 Cambridge 190 275 
			 Cardiff 176 292 
			 Dundee 138 300 
			 Edinburgh 138 283 
			 Exeter 138 250 
			 Glasgow 138 197 
			 Leeds 138 280 
			 Liverpool 138 229 
			 London 320 417 
			 Manchester 138 235 
			 Oxford 190 306 
			 Newcastle 138 309 
			 Nottingham 138 240 
			 Sheffield 138 280 
			 Southampton 138 246 
		
	
	The numbers of active members under training is smaller than the enrolled numbers.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Building Schools for the Future Programme: Leicester

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the reasons are for delays in the rebuilding of schools in Leicester under the building schools for the future scheme; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the costs by delays in the building schools for the future projects in Leicester;
	(3)  when he expects work to begin on the rebuilding and refurbishment of  (a) Soar Valley,  (b) Judgemeadow and  (c) Beaumont Leys schools; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what discussions he plans to have with Leicester city council on the Leicester building schools for the future projects;
	(5)  what discussions officials from his Department have had with  (a) Leicester city council and  (b) Centerprise on the decision by Centerprise not to provide computer equipment for schools in Leicester.

Jim Knight: The Leicester city council's building schools for the future (BSF) project is part of the first wave of projects to be procured and as such has led the way in dealing with issues that will assist and inform the approach of BSF projects in later waves. It has become necessary to take time to get right the design of two of the schools, to ensure that this investment delivers value for money and transforms the education of pupils there. In addition, the withdrawal from the supply chain of the preferred bidder's ICT partner, and the subsequent process of appointing a replacement, has required careful management to ensure the authority's ICT specification would still be met by the new provider on the same or better commercial terms.
	Following a delay in signing the contract beyond the date up to which the original bid price was fixed, the preferred bidder requested approximately 700,000 to cover their estimated additional inflation costs. Following negotiations between the council and the preferred bidder, the majority of this will be borne by the preferred bidder.
	Work on the three schools named is expected to start in July 2007.
	While there have been delays on the project, as it is now making good progress, I currently have no plans to have discussions with Leicester city's officials on BSF. My officials and Partnerships for Schools will continue to lead communications with the authority.
	The decision by Centerprise to withdraw from the preferred bidder's supply chain was entirely an issue for those parties, although Partnerships for Schools, on behalf of the Department, has been closely involved in discussions with regard to this development. Partnerships for Schools continue to assist the council to ensure the best outcome for the authority, its pupils, teaching staff, parents and others.

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what action is planned to be taken on  (a) workforce satisfaction with management and  (b) workloads following the 2006 Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service staff survey;
	(2)  whether he plans to publish statistics on the ethnicity of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service caseload;
	(3)  how many vacancies there are in each Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service region in both  (a) public and  (b) private law;
	(4)  how many parents in 2005-06 were referred to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service following an application of the court; and how many had already participated in mediation;

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the policy of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service is on co-parenting.

Parmjit Dhanda: These are matters for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass). Anthony Douglas, the Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his letter on will be placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 5 June 2007:
	I am writing to you in response to the five of the seven Parliamentary Questions that you tabled recently:
	140264To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what action is planned to be taken on  (a) workforce satisfaction with management and  (b) workloads following the 2006 Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service staff survey.
	An action plan is being prepared in response to the recent Cafcass staff survey including a stronger staff engagement strategy. There are no plans to change existing guidance on workloads, which has been in place for 3 years, and which has been agreed with Cafcass's trade unions. Cafcass believes it does have to take additional steps to increase workforce satisfaction with some aspects of the way in which the organisation works, and will be seeking the views of staff and trade unions about how this can best be done. Cafcass is determined to provide its service users with the very best possible service it can within the resources available.
	140265To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, whether he plans to publish statistics on the ethnicity of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service caseload.
	Cafcass has been implementing a new Case Recording System during the year. As a result diversity data is not yet complete or robust enough to publish this data in its annual report. For 2006/07 Cafcass intends to publish this data in future years, starting in its annual report for 2007/08.
	140266To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many vacancies there are in each Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service region in both  (a) public and  (b) private law.
	The table below indicates the vacancies as at 31 May 2007. Cafcass does not categorise practitioners into private and public law.
	
		
			  Region  FCA vacancies (whole time equivalents)  Support worker vacancies (whole time equivalent) 
			 East Midlands 2.5 1.5 
			 Eastern 10.71 9.4 
			 Greater London 9 0 
			 North East 0 1.85 
			 North West 6.5 7.3 
			 South East 1.5 1.73 
			 South West 1.5 2.5 
			 Southern 0.5 4.0 
			 West Midlands 4 4.0 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 5.5 6.0 
		
	
	140269To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many parents in 2005-06 were referred to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service following an application of the court; and how many had already participated in mediation.
	In 2005-06 we received 26,144 applications for section 7 reports and 645 applications for Family Assisted Orders. Neither Cafcass nor Her Majesty's Courts Service keep statistics on how many of these had participated in mediation prior to application.
	140272To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the policy of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service is on co-parenting.
	Cafcass policy is to consider all options, including co-parenting. It will recommend co-parenting to a court if in a specific case, it considers that it would be in the best interests of the child or young person concerned.
	A copy of this reply will be placed in the House Library.

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding has been allocated to specialist assessment teams within the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service to work with children's cases involving allegations of sexual abuse for 2007-08.

Parmjit Dhanda: This is a matter for the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS). Anthony Douglas, the chief executive, has written to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Anthony Douglas, dated 5 June 2007:
	I am writing to you in response to Parliamentary Question 140386To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how much funding is allocated to specialist assessment teams within the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service to work with children's cases involving allegations of sexual abuse.
	CAFCASS does not provide a specialist assessment service, which often involves medical practitioners, psychologists or psychiatrists. However, CAFCASS officers are all qualified and experienced social workers; they receive additional training and support on domestic violence and abuse issues and, in some cases, they might recommend to the court that a specialist assessment be commissioned.
	A copy of this reply will be placed in the House Library.

Class Sizes

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the  (a) teacher to pupil ratio and  (b) classroom assistant to pupil ratio was in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in (A) Peterborough constituency, (B) Peterborough city council area and (C) England in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The following table shows pupil to teacher ratios and pupil to teaching assistant ratios in maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools in Peterborough constituency, Peterborough local authority and England, January 1997 to 2007.
	
		
			  Pupil:teacher ratios and pupil:teaching assistant ratios( 1)  in maintained primary and secondary schools in Peterborough constituency, Peterborough local authority and England, January 1997 to 2007( 2) 
			   Peterborough constituency  Peterborough local authority( 3)  England 
			   Primary  Secondary  Primary  Secondary  Primary  Secondary 
			  1997( 3)   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 23.9 16.5 n/a n/a 23.4 16.7 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 82.8 112.8 n/a n/a 107.4 388.9 
			
			  1998( 3)   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 24.4 16.5 n/a n/a 23.7 16.9 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 69.4 94.9 n/a n/a 100.6 342.4 
			
			  1999   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 24.3 16.3 24.2 16.7 23.5 17.0 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 84.0 88.3 27.8 152.2 96.8 294.8 
			
			  2000   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 23.3 16.6 23.2 17.1 23.3 17.2 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 55.6 78.1 25.9 114.7 83.7 255.5 
			
			  2001   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 23.4 16.9 23.0 17.2 22.9 17.1 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 49.7 71.8 18.9 88.4 67.3 209.0 
			
			  2002   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 23.3 16.6 22.9 17.3 22.5 16.9 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 37.7 67.1 27.3 56.8 60.8 167.2 
			
			  2003   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 23.7 16.6 23.1 17.4 22.6 17.0 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 32.1 79.2 17.6 53.6 52.2 148.5 
			
			  2004   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 23.8 16.3 23.2 17.0 22.7 17.0 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 32.6 63.2 16.7 43.2 47.4 131.2 
			
			  2005   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 22.8 16.4 22.5 16.9 22.5 16.7 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 27.7 50.0 14.5 36.5 42.6 110.6 
			
			  2006   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio 22.4 16.3 21.9 16.5 22.0 16.6 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio 25.2 39.6 13.0 33.3 41.6 98.7 
			
			  2007( 2, 4)   
			 Pupil:teacher ratio n/a n/a n/a n/a 21.8 16.5 
			 Pupil:teaching assistant ratio n/a n/a n/a n/a 38.5 91.7 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Teaching assistants include teaching assistants, special needs support staff and minority ethnic pupil support staff. (2) 2007 local authority and parliamentary constituency level data will be available in September 2007. (3) Peterborough became a new authority in 1999 and is therefore not included in the 1997 and 1998 figures. (4) Provisional.  Source: Annual School Census

Education Maintenance Allowance

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many education grants were given to 16 to 19 year olds in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what the total cost was of these grants; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 8 May 2007
	 This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council who operates learner support programmes for 16 to 19-year-olds, other than those in higher education. Mark Haysom, the council's Chief Executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 25 May 2007:
	I am writing in response to your recent Parliamentary Question that asked;
	How many education grants were given to 16-19 year olds in each of the last five years for which figures are available; what the total cost was of these grants.
	The following table shows Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) take-up for England during each academic year since the introduction of the allowance. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in each academic year 
			   Take Up 
			 2002/03 123,415 
			 2003/04 124,383 
			 2004/05 297,567 
			 2005/06 430,327 
			 2006/07 to end of April 514,950 
		
	
	Total expenditure is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  EMA Expenditure in each financial year (National Scheme) 
			   EMA student payments costs ( million) 
			 2002-03 115.2 
			 2003-04 136.3 
			 2004-05 217.3 
			 2005-06 363.1 
			 2006-07(1) 474.9 
			 (1) This figure is provisional 
		
	
	I hope you find this information useful.

Education: Standards

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children diagnosed with eating disorders before the age of 15 years subsequently achieved five GCSEs at level A-C in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not available.

Education: Travelling People

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the impact of recent changes in funding formula for Gypsy and Traveller education on  (a) pupil participation and  (b) recruitment of teaching assistants from traveller communities.

Jim Knight: From April 2006, the Vulnerable Children Grant and three other grants were put together to form a Children's Services Grant (CSG). The CSG also contains additional funding to help local authorities and schools to administer the Every Child Matters agenda.
	Local authorities have more spending freedom over a larger pot of money to target where it is most needed, including towards support for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils. The Department has made clear in its Guidance on Children and Young People's Plan the need for local authorities to set out improvements to the outcomes for all children and young people with specific focus on narrowing the gap between those who do well and those who do not.
	Over the last three years there has been an increase in Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils participating in education at school. While we do not collect data, anecdotal evidence is that there is also an increase in recruitment of people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities working within Traveller Education Services.
	The Department will be assessing the provision made by local authorities to improve the life chances of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children through its research project which will be launched in June 2007 and the inspection framework.

Educational Attainment

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many  (a) maintained secondary schools and  (b) independent secondary schools fell within each percentage point in terms of the proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who achieved nine or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics in 2006;
	(2)  how many  (a) maintained secondary schools and  (b) independent secondary schools fell within each percentage point in terms of the proportion of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who achieved seven or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics in 2006.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.
	This analysis is based on the revised 2006 KS4 data.

Free School Meals

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the variation was in the proportion of children entitled to free school dinners between the school in each local education authority with the lowest entitlement and the school with the highest in  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2005-06; and what category of school was the (i) highest and (ii) lowest in each case.

Jim Knight: The requested information has been placed in the Library.

Further Education: Foundation Degrees

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that foundation degrees awarded by further education colleges will be structured so as to allow those students who wish to do so to pursue shorter honours degree courses.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 4 June 2007
	Since their introduction in 2000, all foundation degrees have incorporated progression agreements as a core element of the qualification. Progression agreements are designed to ensure that all foundation degree students can identify appropriate opportunities for progression on to more advanced study, should they so wish. Further study will typically be the final year of an honours degree programme, but progression could also be to a relevant professional or higher vocational qualification. Progression routes are negotiated by institutions at the time of establishing new Foundation Degree programmes. The 'Foundation Degree Qualification Benchmark' statement, produced by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, sets out detailed guidance for institutions on how progression routes should be established and maintained.
	Progression agreements will continue to be an essential aspect of all foundation degree programmes, regardless of the awarding institution. The proposals in the Further Education and Training Bill to allow further education institutions in England to apply for the power to award foundation degrees only will not change this core characteristic of the foundation degree. I intend to table a Government amendment that seeks to address the issue of progression on the face of the Bill.

Home Education

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary age children were home schooled in each education authority in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: Parents may exercise their right to educate their children at home on a temporary or permanent basis. We do not collect information about the numbers of children whose parents provide education at home, and it would be impractical to do so given the transient nature of some of this type of provision. A recent study on the prevalence of home education in England, conducted by York Consulting estimated that there were around 16,000 children being educated at home that were known to the local authority. We have not made any estimate of the number of home educated children that are not known to their local authority.

Physical Education

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many Ofsted inspectors have physical education as their subject specialism.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 30 May 2007:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	You asked how many Ofsted inspectors have physical education as their subject specialism.
	Eleven HMI currently employed by Ofsted have either physical education or an aspect of physical education, such as exercise and fitness coaching, as their subject specialism. In addition, Ofsted makes use of additional inspectors supplied by our Regional Inspection Service Providers.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools, and will be placed in the Library of both Houses.

Primary Education: Numeracy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the last meeting held between officials or Ministers in his Department and officials or Ministers of HM Treasury to discuss standards of numeracy in primary schools.

Jim Knight: Ministers and civil servants meet many people as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not normal practice to disclose details of such meetings.

Primary Education: Teaching Methods

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on personalised learning in primary schools in  (a) English and  (b) mathematics in each financial year since 1997-98.

Jim Knight: The Department does not collect this information.

Pupil Exclusions Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils were  (a) permanently excluded and  (b) given fixed period exclusions from pupil referral units in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the table.
	The first year for which information on exclusions from pupil referral units is available relates to the 2003/04 academic year. Data on exclusions from pupil referral units were collected retrospectively via the Termly Exclusions Survey. Exclusions data for 2004/05 academic year were published in June 2006.
	The Termly Exclusions Survey has now discontinued so data on exclusions from Pupil Referral Units in 2005/06 are not available.
	
		
			  Pupil referral units: number and percentage of permanent and fixed period exclusions, 2003/04 and 2004/05, by local authority area and Government office region in England 
			Permanent exclusions  Fixed period exclusions 
			2003/04  2004/05  2003/04  2004/05 
			No.( 1)  %( 2)  No.( 1)  %( 2)  No.( 1)  %( 2)  No.( 1)  %( 2) 
			   England( 3) 30 0.26 40 0.28 5,780 44.34 7,630 52.75 
			   
			   North East( 3) 10 0.60 10 0.79 500 59.66 850 112.68 
			 841 Darlington 0 0.00 0 0.00 15 71.43 158 329.17 
			 840 Durham 0 0.00 0 0.00 5 45.45 4 14.29 
			 390 Gateshead (4) (4) 4 6.35 76 84.44 91 144.44 
			 805 Hartlepool 0 0.00 0 0.00 35 63.64 79 109.72 
			 806 Middlesbrough (4) (4) 0 0.00 97 125.97 164 131.20 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 0 0.00 0 0.00 3 2.59 31 32.98 
			 392 North Tyneside 0 0.00 (4) (4) 38 63.33 76 149.02 
			 929 Northumberland (4) (4) 0 0.00 5 166.67 20 666.67 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 0 0.00 0 0.00 5 4.17 11 11.00 
			 393 South Tyneside 0 0.00 0 0.00 146 92.41 102 103.03 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees (4) (4) 0 0.00 66 129.41 60 181.82 
			 394 Sunderland 0 0.00 0 0.00 6 8.45 57 139.02 
			   
			   North West( 3) (5) (5) (5) (5) 930 42.93 860 36.17 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 
			 890 Blackpool 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 
			 350 Bolton 0 0.00 0 0.00 25 37.88 57 81.43 
			 351 Bury 0 0.00 0 0.00 32 30.19 52 47.71 
			 875 Cheshire   0 0.00   0 0.00 
			 909 Cumbria 0 0.00 0 0.00 50 75.76 97 159.02 
			 876 Halton (4) (4) (4) (4) 96 290.91 77 163.83 
			 340 Knowsley 0 0.00 0 0.00 27 24.77 (4) (4) 
			 888 Lancashire 0 0.00 (4) (4) 426 114.82 214 62.76 
			 341 Liverpool 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 352 Manchester 0 0.00 0 0.00 6 1.46 13 3.58 
			 353 Oldham(6)   0 0.00 23  57 100.00 
			 354 Rochdale 0 0.00 0 0.00 89 77.39 97 110.23 
			 355 Salford 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 21 16.94 
			 343 Sefton 0 0.00 0 0.00 32 34.78 33 37.08 
			 342 St. Helens 0 0.00 0 0.00 4 26.67 4 5.97 
			 356 Stockport 0 0.00 0 0.00 27 300.00 57 57.58 
			 357 Tameside 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 
			 358 Trafford 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 
			 877 Warrington 0 0.00 0 0.00 4 12.90 0 0.00 
			 359 Wigan 0 0.00 0 0.00 62 144.19 72 144.00 
			 344 Wirral 0 0.00 (4) (4) 27 49.09 0 0.00 
			   
			   Yorkshire and the Humber( 3) (5) (5) 10 0.36 810 58.39 1,280 90.96 
			 370 Barnsley 0 0.00 0 0.00 25 35.21 107 105.94 
			 380 Bradford 0 0.00 (4) (4) 132 76.30 276 148.39 
			 381 Calderdale 0 0.00 0 0.00 38 84.44 127 249.02 
			 371 Doncaster (4) (4) 0 0.00 57 40.71 69 36.70 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 3 20.00 
			 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of (4) (4) (4) (4) 176 308.77 236 374.60 
			 382 Kirklees 0 0.00 0 0.00 45 26.01 71 35.50 
			 383 Leeds 0 0.00 0 0.00 81 41.33 130 86.09 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 0 0.00 3 6.52 9 18.37 6 13.04 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 41 74.55 28 96.55 
			 815 North Yorkshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 3 13.04 3 12.00 
			 372 Rotherham 0 0.00 0 0.00 8 20.00 10 23.26 
			 373 Sheffield 0 0.00 0 0.00 129 84.87 89 80.91 
			 384 Wakefield (4) (4) 0 0.00 64 136.17 123 256.25 
			 816 York 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 
			   
			   East Midlands( 3) (5) (5) (5) (5) 430 42.17 720 49.38 
			 831 Derby 0 0.00 0 0.00 203 122.29 214 109.74 
			 830 Derbyshire (4) (4) 0 0.00 163 525.81 380 157.02 
			 856 Leicester 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 855 Leicestershire 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 925 Lincolnshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 3 1.40 (4) (4) 
			 928 Northamptonshire 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 892 Nottingham (4) (4) (4) (4) 42 25.30 90 54.22 
			 891 Nottinghamshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 20 30.77 35 40.70 
			 857 Rutland 
			   
			   West Midlands( 3) 0 0.00 (5) (5) 430 31.78 500 40.32 
			 330 Birmingham 0 0.00 0 0.00 29 8.29 26 6.44 
			 331 Coventry 0 0.00 0 0.00 8 133.33 0 0.00 
			 332 Dudley 0 0.00 (4) (4) 59 327.78 46 153.33 
			 884 Herefordshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 9 22.50 6 27.27 
			 333 Sandwell 0 0.00 0 0.00 96 76.19 150 214.29 
			 893 Shropshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 334 Solihull 0 0.00 0 0.00 15 27.78 7 12.96 
			 860 Staffordshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 
			 861 Stoke-on-Trent 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 21 22.83 
			 335 Walsall 0 0.00 0 0.00 8 7.69 4 7.14 
			 937 Warwickshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 62 38.75 117 64.64 
			 336 Wolverhampton 0 0.00 0 0.00 39 39.00 43 64.18 
			 885 Worcestershire 0 0.00 0 0.00 104 45.41 82 62.12 
			   
			   East of England( 3) (5) (5) (5) (5) 270 24.49 330 24.94 
			 820 Bedfordshire 0 0.00 (4) (4) 14 13.33 34 34.34 
			 873 Cambridgeshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 80 30.53 98 42.79 
			 881 Essex 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 919 Hertfordshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 19 17.12 
			 821 Luton 0 0.00 0 0.00 9 36.00 15 93.75 
			 926 Norfolk 0 0.00 0 0.00 43 113.16 25 8.83 
			 874 Peterborough 0 0.00 0 0.00 6 37.50 8 50.00 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea 0 0.00 0 0.00 39 169.57 41 120.59 
			 935 Suffolk (4) (4) (4) (4) 68 46.26 60 46.15 
			 883 Thurrock 0 0.00 (4) (4) 5 7.81 28 33.73 
			   
			   London( 3) 10 0.33 10 0.39 1,100 40.31 1,300 38.89 
			   Inner London( 3)   10 0.37 860 67.88 950 50.48 
			 202 Camden 0 0.00 0 0.00 44 118.92 30 40.00 
			 201 City of London 
			 204 Hackney 0 0.00 (4) (4) 64 136.17 59 18.97 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 0 0.00 0 0.00 43 22.75 47 26.70 
			 309 Haringey 0 0.00 0 0.00 163 155.24 81 89.01 
			 206 Islington 0 0.00 0 0.00 285 239.50 231 210.00 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 0 0.00 0 0.00 9 20.45 9 19.57 
			 208 Lambeth (4) (4) (4) (4) 0 0.00 15 14.85 
			 209 Lewisham 0 0.00 (4) (4) 119 81.51 199 140.14 
			 316 Newham 0 0.00 3 0.73 0 0.00 66 16.06 
			 210 Southwark (4) (4) 0 0.00 125 125.00 211 281.33 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 212 Wandsworth 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 
			 213 Westminster 0 0.00 0 0.00 7 116.67 5 10.87 
			   
			   Outer London( 3) 10 0.34 10 0.41 240 16.25 350 23.83 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 302 Barnet 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 9 17.31 
			 303 Bexley 0 0.00 0 0.00 8 15.69 9 17.65 
			 304 Brent 0 0.00 0 0.00 35 34.65 40 41.24 
			 305 Bromley 0 0.00 0 0.00 26 26.00 46 46.94 
			 306 Croydon (4) (4) 0 0.00 39 11.14 74 22.70 
			 307 Ealing 0 0.00 0 0.00 29 21.80 23 17.29 
			 308 Enfield 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 4 3.54 
			 203 Greenwich 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 
			 310 Harrow 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 311 Havering 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 312 Hillingdon 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 3 9.09 
			 313 Hounslow 0 0.00 0 0.00 14 25.45 9 15.00 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames(6) 0 0.00   (4) (4) 5  
			 315 Merton 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 0 0.00 
			 317 Redbridge 3 4.05 4 4.55 (4) (4) 37 42.05 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 11 183.33 
			 319 Sutton 0 0.00 (4) (4) 21 123.53 (4) (4) 
			 320 Waltham Forest (4) (4) 0 0.00 57 300.00 74 569.23 
			   
			   South East( 3) 10 0.72   1,060 76.33 1,420 106.83 
			 867 Bracknell Forest 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 37 148.00 
			 846 Brighton and Hove(6) (4) (4) 7  
			 825 Buckinghamshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 9 11.54 7 11.11 
			 845 East Sussex 0 0.00 0 0.00 41 141.38 39 134.48 
			 850 Hampshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 367 136.94 439 148.31 
			 921 Isle of Wight 0 0.00 0 0.00 12 75.00 15 71.43 
			 886 Kent 5 3.27 3 2.05 19 12.42 56 38.36 
			 887 Medway (4) (4) (4) (4) 33 23.24 94 63.95 
			 826 Milton Keynes 0 0.00 0 0.00 12 21.43 8 10.67 
			 931 Oxfordshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 60 89.55 
			 851 Portsmouth 0 0.00 0 0.00 113 282.50 95 250.00 
			 870 Reading 0 0.00 0 0.00 34 109.68 45 145.16 
			 871 Slough 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 852 Southampton 0 0.00 0 0.00 50 166.67 146 634.78 
			 936 Surrey 0 0.00 0 0.00 225 158.45 225 150.00 
			 869 West Berkshire 3 5.17 0 0.00 36 62.07 65 125.00 
			 938 West Sussex 0 0.00 0 0.00 74 80.43 52 68.42 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 0 0.00 0 0.00 31 163.16 33 235.71 
			 872 Wokingham (4) (4) 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			   
			   South West( 3) (5) (5) (5) (5) 260 24.07 380 29.90 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 0 0.00 0 0.00 32 457.14 48 960.00 
			 837 Bournemouth (4) (4) 3 15.79 15 166.67 13 68.42 
			 801 Bristol, City of 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 
			 908 Cornwall   0 0.00 0 (4) 0 0.00 
			 878 Devon 0 0.00 0 0.00 42 54.55 98 158.06 
			 835 Dorset 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 3 2.42 
			 916 Gloucestershire (4) (4) 0 0.00 12 6.63 19 8.84 
			 420 Isles of Scilly 
			 802 North Somerset 0 0.00 0 0.00 (4) (4) 12 33.33 
			 879 Plymouth 0 0.00 0 0.00 22 15.60 41 27.70 
			 836 Poole 0 0.00 0 0.00 8 40.00 (4) (4) 
			 933 Somerset 0 0.00 0 0.00 52 85.25 68 113.33 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 0 0.00 0 0.00 6 10.91 0 0.00 
			 866 Swindon 0 0.00 0 0.00 20 29.41 10 20.00 
			 880 Torbay 0 0.00 0 0.00 37 69.81 23 121.05 
			 865 Wiltshire 0 0.00 0 0.00 11 8.73 38 26.03 
			 (1) Figures refer to the cases of exclusion rather than the number of pupils excluded as some pupils were excluded more than once during the year. (2) The number of exclusions expressed as a percentage of the school population (includes solely registered pupils and pupils with other providers). School population data are as at January. (3) National and regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. (4) 1 or 2 exclusions, or a rate based on 1 or 2 exclusions (5) Less than 5 exclusions, or a rate based on less than 5 exclusions (6) Pupil referral unit population is reported as being zero for these authorities, although they have reported exclusions. Potentially new provision has opened after the School Census was conducted in January.  Source: Termly Exclusions Survey and School Census

Pupil Exclusions Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils with  (a) a statement of special educational needs and  (b) special educational needs but no statement were (i) permanently excluded and (ii) given a fixed period exclusion from pupil referral units in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Jim Knight: The available information is given in the table.
	The first year for which information on exclusions from pupil referral units is available relates to the 2003/04 academic year. Data on exclusions from pupil referral units were collected retrospectively via the Termly Exclusions Survey. Exclusions data for 2004/05 academic year were published in June 2006.
	The Termly Exclusions Survey has now discontinued so data on exclusions from pupil referral units in 2005/06 are not available.
	
		
			  Pupil referral units: number and percentage of permanent and fixed period exclusions by special educational needs (SEN) 2003/04 and 2004/05, England 
			   Number of exclusions( 1) 
			   Permanent exclusions  Fixed period exclusions 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2003/04  2004/05 
			   Number( 2)  Percentage( 3)  Number( 2)  Percentage( 3)  Number( 2)  Percentage( 3)  Number( 2)  Percentage( 3) 
			 Pupils with statements of SEN 10 0.26 10 0.4 1,170 50.87 1,640 72.56 
			 Pupils with SEN without statements 10 0.17 20 0.26 2,790 43.33 3,850 58.92 
			 Pupils with no identified SEN 20 0.4 20 0.26 1,820 42.35 2,140 37.76 
			 Total 30 0.26 40 0.28 5,780 44.34 7,630 52.75 
			 (1) Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. (2 )Figures refer to the cases of exclusion rather than the number of pupils excluded as some pupils were excluded more than once during the year. (3) The number of exclusions expressed as a percentage of the school population (includes solely registered pupils and pupils with other providers) supported at same stage of SEN. School population data are as at January.  Source: Termly Exclusions Survey and School Census

Pupil Referral Units

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of pupils at pupil referral units achieved at GCSE  (a) five A* to G,  (b) five A* to G including English and mathematics,  (c) five A* to G excluding equivalents,  (d) five A* to G including English and mathematics, but excluding equivalents and  (e) any passes in each year between 1997 and 2006, broken down by local authority.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been placed in the House Library.

Pupils: English Language

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of English as an additional language pupils in  (a) Cambridgeshire,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Lincolnshire;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the increase in the number of English as an additional language pupils in the last five years in  (a) Cambridgeshire,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Lincolnshire.

Jim Knight: The information requested is recorded by schools through the School Census and is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Maintained primary and secondary schools( 1) : number of pupils where first language is known or believed to be other than English( 2) , as at January each year, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire local authorities 
			   Primary  Secondary 
			   Cambridgeshire  Norfolk  Lincolnshire  Cambridgeshire  Norfolk  Lincolnshire 
			 2003(3) 1,362 827 424 1,057 1,107 517 
			 2004(4) 1,439 1,182 492 1,067 492 1,591 
			 2005 1,595 1,265 578 1,149 622 626 
			 2006 1,840 1,530 876 1,263 766 837 
			 2007(5) 2,176 1,710 1,233 1,862 1,293 1,169 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Pupils of compulsory school age and above. (3) In 2003, following the introduction of new first language codes, estimates were made for Norfolk LA as data from some primary and secondary schools were known to be incorrect. (4) All figures are as reported by secondary schools. The 2004 Lincolnshire figure is high as some schools wrongly reported 100 per cent. of pupils with first language known or believed to be other than English. No estimates to correct for this were made in 2004. (5) Provisional data.  Source: School Census

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of funding was per pupil in  (a) Shrewsbury and Atcham,  (b) Dagenham,  (c) Leicester West and  (d) Leeds Central constituency in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006.

Jim Knight: The education funding information requested is allocated to local authorities and not at constituency level. The 2005-06 dedicated schools grant (DSG) baseline plus revenue grants and final 2006-07 DSG allocations plus revenue grants are shown in the following table. These are the cash figures for all funded pupils aged three-15:
	
		
			   
			  Local authority  2005-06 DSG baseline plus grants  2006-07 DSG plus grants 
			 Barking and Dagenham 4,750 4,922 
			 Leeds 4,127 4,354 
			 Leicester 4,158 4,485 
			 Shropshire 3,751 3,957

Reading: Mentors

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many mentors there are providing help with reading in schools in England.

Jim Knight: Reading mentors are an invaluable resource for many schools in supporting children to read well. The Department is currently providing funding to Volunteer Reading Help (VRH); a charitable organisation which recruits, trains and places volunteers to give one-to-one help twice a week to children aged 6-11 years who find reading a challenge. Currently VRH has around 2000 volunteer readers working with around 5,000 children.
	For a minority of young children with significant literacy difficulties an intensive intervention delivered by specialist teachers is needed if they are to be able to read and access the wider curriculum. Every Child A Reader does this by placing highly skilled Reading Recovery teachers into schools to provide intensive one-to-one or small group support to children most in need. Every Child A Reader will be rolled out nationally, benefiting over 30,000 children a year by 2010-11.
	Estimates from a nationally representative sample survey in 2004 (The Deployment and Impact of Support Staff in Schools) indicated that there were 4,539 full-time equivalent learning mentors in schools in England and 24 in Wales. These are paid support staff who worked in the school (including in the provision of extended services for pupils) whether employed by the school, local authority or other body, but not unpaid volunteers or other unpaid helpers. A further survey was conducted in the spring term 2005-06 and updated figures will be published later this year.

Schools Private Finance Unit

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much has been spent on  (a) the establishment and  (b) the running of the Schools Private Finance Unit;
	(2)  how many staff work in the Schools Private Finance Unit;
	(3)  what the functions are of the Schools Private Finance Unit; and how its performance is assessed.

Jim Knight: The Department had a schools private finance unit from approximately 1996 to 2004. As a result of its work, there are now 107 PFI contracts with a value of 3.97 billion which are delivering buildings, ICT and other services to over 840 schools. The Department cannot work out the cost of the establishment or running of the unit over that period without incurring disproportionate cost. The unit began in 1996 with one full-time member of staff and, at its largest, had around 17 staff.
	The Department currently has one PFI strategy adviser, at grade 7, and the average cost of employing a grade 7 is 65,000. The adviser's function is to work with the private sector, central and local government and schools to promote excellent service to schools through PFI. Other staff in the Department's Schools Capital Division also contribute to PFI work, and the Department works closely with Partnerships UK and the 4ps to ensure that local authorities and schools have the support they need. For example, Partnerships UK runs an operational taskforce which schools and local authorities can ring for help with PFI issues.
	The Department previously assessed its performance on PFI in terms of contracts signed. Now that all 107 PFI contracts have been signed, we are considering what performance indicators might be appropriate for their build and operational phases.
	All schools PFI is now within Building Schools for the Future, which is run by Partnerships for Schools, one of the Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Schools: Construction

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research he has commissioned to assess the through-life costs of a school built under  (a) Building Schools for the Future and  (b) other capital programmes.

Jim Knight: We would not expect the through-life costs of schools built under different programmes to be significantly different. Those procuring schools should have regard to the recommended building and design standards in our range of Building Bulletins and other publications, including Finding the Right Solutiona Guide to Options Appraisal. They should also have regard to wider Government procurement and value for money guidance and should apply through-life cost considerations for all procurement as part of their commitment to the Common Minimum Standards Procurement of Works.
	Partnerships for Schools, our delivery partner in Building Schools for the Future, challenges local authorities to achieve best through-life, value for money solutions no matter which procurement approach is used. Where finance is through Private Finance Initiative credits, through-life costs are fixed for the public sector when the contract is signed. We encourage local authorities to use Building Schools for the Future Local Educational Partnerships or acceptable alternative arrangement for all their schools' building procurement.
	Partnerships for Schools is currently collecting life-cycle costs and other information on schools in Building Schools for the Future as part of a benchmarking database to enable comparisons to be made in the future. Further, we have commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the Building Schools for the Future programme. This will include comparisons of cost data with schools where investment is through other programmes.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were assaulted by  (a) pupils and  (b) parents in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This information is not held centrally.
	For the academic years 2003/04 and 2004/05 information is available on the reasons for pupil exclusions. These reasons include 'physical assault against an adult'.
	Tables showing the available information about the number of pupils who have been excluded from school on either a permanent or fixed period basis including the reasons for exclusion have been placed in the Library.
	Violence against school staff will not be tolerated. We fully back schools taking tough action against anyonepupil or parentwho behaves aggressively. We are implementing a wide-ranging national programme to strengthen schools' capacity to manage behaviour and minimise violence.

Schools: Fire Prevention

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many schools in England have sprinkler systems installed;
	(2)  what percentage of fires in schools were started deliberately in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the cost of the effects of arson to schools in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The Department does not have data on how many schools have sprinklers installed. However, we understand from insurers that nearly 300 schools in the United Kingdom as a whole have sprinkler systems fitted.
	With regard to statistics on school fires and arson, the latest figures we have from the Department for Communities and Local Government covering England and Wales are for 2000-04, with those for 2005 being provisional.
	
		
			  Year  Number of fires  Total costs ( million)  Arson (percentage) 
			 2000 1,275 45 63 
			 2001 1,529 67 58 
			 2002 1,332 67 55 
			 2003 1,313 61 60 
			 2004 1,291 52 56 
			 2005 1,166 n/a 45 
		
	
	These costs are rounded to the nearest 1 million and cover property damage and the costs of the fire and rescue services attending the fires. They do not include the consequential costs of, for instance, providing alternative accommodation when need, or disruption to education. However, these costs are taken account of in the fire risk assessment tool which I launched on 26 February. This provides clear guidance on when sprinklers should be installed, and our presumption is that all new schools will have them fitted.

Special Educational Needs: Teaching Aids

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on alternative formats for educational material for visually impaired and dyslexic children.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department's SEN atrategy 'Removing Barriers to Achievement' sets out our vision for giving children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities the opportunity to succeed. Provision for children with SEN and disabilities, including support for those with a visual impairment is made by schools and local authorities through the SEN and disability frameworks.
	In particular, part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 requires schools and local authorities to plan to improve access to the curriculum and written materials for disabled pupils over time. In addition, the new disability equality duty introduced by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 requires all public bodies including schools and local authorities to promote disability equality more widely. We also continue to invest significant resources to support the education of children with SEN and disabilities; some 4.5 billion in 2006/07.
	To assist the provision of materials in accessible alternative formats for children with a visual impairment, the Government supported the Copyright (Visually Impaired Persons) Act 2002 which reduces delays in gaining copyright clearance to produce books and other printed materials in formats accessible to visually impaired people. The Department of Trade and Industry is also working on a feasibility study to look at opportunities for publishers to provide education material in accessible formats more quickly and the Department for Education and Skills is involved in the process.

Specialist Schools

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what mechanisms are in place for monitoring the effectiveness of Government-funded programmes run by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust; and what independent assessments have been undertaken of these programmes;
	(2)  how much has been paid by his Department to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and its predecessor the Specialist Schools Trust in each year since 1997, broken down by category of funding.

Jim Knight: holding answer 4 June 2007
	The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), and its predecessor bodies, is a charitable company limited by guarantee. The Department for Education and Skills funds the SSAT, through grant and contracts, to support the specialist schools and academies programmes and a range of other activities designed to raise pupil achievement. This funding is subject to standard monitoring procedures, and appropriate reporting mechanisms are agreed in each case.
	There are several independent assessments of the programmes for which the SSAT currently receive funding, for example, Ofsted evaluations of the specialist schools programme in 2001 and 2005, and the annual extensive longitudinal evaluation of the academies programme by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
	The total amounts paid to SSAT each year since 1997 are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  000 
			   Specialist school grant( 1)  Other grants  Contracts 
			 1996-97 711   
			 1997-98 677   
			 1998-99 786   
			 1999-2000 1,104   
			 2000 -01 1,487   
			 2001-02 1,576 471 335 
			 2002-03 2,740 1,283 349 
			 2003-04 7,896 3,077 353 
			 2004-05 10,355 6,668 773 
			 2005-06 12,487 10,595 1,269 
			 2006-07 16,357 16,602 2,228 
			 (1) Including academies grant from 2004-05

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Companies: Insolvency

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to limit the amount administrators can charge in the event of a company going into administration.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The insolvency rules already give creditors the right to apply to court for an order that the administrator's remuneration be reduced in circumstances where they consider it to be excessive. The insolvency profession is also a regulated profession and as such all insolvency office-holders are authorised and are required to follow industry standards, published in the form of statements of insolvency practice.
	Although the Government have no plans to limit the amount of remuneration that administrators may draw, The Insolvency Service is undertaking a project to modernise the insolvency rules. One of the changes being considered is a requirement for all insolvency office-holders to provide details of remuneration charged on a regular basis and to provide creditors with clear rights to seek better particulars and to enable them to challenge those amounts where they consider them to be excessive. This should ensure greater transparency and accountability for creditors of amounts of remuneration drawn by administrators and other office-holders.

Mobile Phones: Health Hazards

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what typical levels of radiation are emitted by a mobile telephone during use; at what distance from a mobile telephone mast with a maximum licensed power of 32 dbW a person is subject to  (a) the equivalent,  (b) 10 per cent. and  (c) 1 per cent. of this level of radiation; and whether these statistics are affected when multiple carriers are using the same mast.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
	The question is framed in terms of emissions, whereas public exposure is the real point of interest. I am informed by the Health Protection Agency's Radiation Protection Division (HPA-RPD) that it is neither straightforward nor meaningful to perform the calculation requested because of the different beam patterns formed by different types of base station antennas and mobile phones, and the consequent different spatial distributions of absorbed energy in the body. Moreover, any region around a high-powered base station site, e.g. with 32 dbW output, where localised exposure of the head could be comparable to that from using a mobile phone would not normally be accessible to the general public.
	The HPA-RPD, has advised that the electromagnetic field exposure guidelines published by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) should be adopted in the United Kingdom. The ICNIRP guidelines are set to avoid adverse effects of exposure on health. Mobile phone base station installations in the UK are designed to comply with the ICNIRP exposure guidelines, as are mobile phones.
	Techniques for measuring specific absorption rate (SAR) in the head when a phone is held to the ear have been standardised and the information for individual handsets can be found on the website of the Mobile Manufacturer's Forum at www.mmfai.org.uk. Typically the SAR values quoted for mobile phones are in the range of 20-70 per cent. of the ICNIRP guidelines.
	Ofcom (and formerly the Radiocommunications Agency) has been performing an audit involving measurements of exposure to base station signals at many different sites in the UK since 2001. The maximum exposures measured are well below the ICNIRP reference level. Information about the audit is available at
	www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk.
	In summary, it is difficult to readily compare base station exposures and mobile phone exposures because the pattern of absorption of radio energy in the body is different. In both cases, public exposure is expected to be within the ICNIRP guidelines, and by a considerable margin for base stations.

New Businesses: North West Region

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many business start-ups there were in the north-west in each year since 1997.

Margaret Hodge: Value added tax (VAT) registrations and de-registrations are currently the best guide to the pattern of business start-ups and closures. DTI data on the number of VAT registrations, and the start of year stock of VAT registered businesses in the north-west from 1997 to 2005 are shown in the following table. Data for 2006 will be available autumn 2007.
	
		
			  VAT registrations and start of year VAT stock in the north-west 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Registrations 17,700 17,545 16,875 17,155 16,485 17,385 19,005 18,080 17,500 n/a 
			 Stock 159,055 161,155 163,125 164,645 165,945 166,925 168,095 171,145 173,575 176,805 
			  Source: Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2005, Small Business Service, available at: http://www.dtistats.net/smes/vat/index.htm 
		
	
	Although numbers of registrations in the north-west have remained fairly constant, the start of year stock has risen by 11 per cent. over the period.
	VAT registration and de-registration data do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if their turnover falls below the compulsory VAT threshold, which has risen in each year since 1997. Similarly, businesses that de-register may not have closed. Only 1.8 million out of 4.3 million businesses (42 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2005.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many of his Department's special advisers were on  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid leave in order to assist with party political matters under section 22 (iii) of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers on Wednesday 16 May 2007; and how many days' leave each adviser was granted.

Peter Hain: Special advisers' involvement in party political matters is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, including section 22 (iii), and the guidance issued by the Cabinet Secretary in December 2006 and May 2007, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.
	Northern Ireland Office special advisers are complying fully with this guidance. As with all civil servants, annual leave is a personal matter and it is not the practice of the Department to disclose when individuals have taken annual leave.

Departments: Official Cars

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost to his Department was of the ministerial car fleet in each year since the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly; and what the total cost to the Department of Finance and Personnel was of the car fleet in each year of the devolved Assembly.

Peter Hain: My ministerial team and I use the Government Car Service when in Great Britain. Costs of this service are as follows:
	
		
			   Amount () 
			 2002-03 428,548.13 
			 2003-04 436,593.30 
			 2004-05 474,352.13 
			 2005-06 513,904.19 
			 2006-07 528,458.18 
			 2007-08(1) 63,000.00 
			 Total 2,444,855.93 
			 (1) Since 1 April 2007 
		
	
	The Police Service of Northern Ireland provide ministerial close protection when we are in Northern Ireland, the cost of which is only held centrally for the 2005-06 and 2006-07 financial years. This information is as follows:
	
		
			
			 2005-06 426,463.69 
			 2006-07 430,489.78 
			 Total 2,072,339.38 
		
	
	The Government are not responsible for costs of the ministerial car fleet for the devolved Administration.

Departments: Official Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 30April 2007 , Official Report, column 1440W, on Departments: official hospitality, what the reason was for the increase in the amount spent on hospitality by his Department in 2006-07 compared with 2005-06.

Peter Hain: In the previous parliamentary questions regarding hospitality there was a significant increase in the amount spent between the years 2005-06 and 2006-07. The figures relating to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), excluding its agencies and NDPBs, include hospitality paid for by the NIO, on behalf of other customers. The NIO recoups these amounts but they were omitted from the previous total spend figures. The following table illustrates how the recoupment offsets the expenditure.
	
		
			   
			   2005-06  2006-07 
			 Expenditure incurred on hospitality by the NIO 299,634 404,476 
			 Amount recouped from external customers 89,000 184,000 
			 Actual amount spent on NIO hospitality 210,634 220,476 
		
	
	When the recoupment is taken into account, the result is a small increase of approximately 10,000 in the amount that was spent between the two years.
	This information does not represent the 11 Departments of the NI Administration.

Departments: Sovereign Strategy

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials from his office held with Sovereign Strategy in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Peter Hain: There have been no official meetings held with Sovereign Strategy.

EC Environmental Policy

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the timetable was for the implementation of each part of EU directive 2002/91/EC, on energy performance of buildings, in Northern Ireland; and whether a regulatory impact assessment was produced for its implementation prior to the restoration of devolved government.

Peter Hain: Articles 3-6 of EU directive 2002/91/EC were implemented in Northern Ireland on 30 November 2006 through amendments to the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000, namely the Building (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (SR 2006 No. 355) and the Building (Amendment No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (SR 2006 No.440). A regulatory impact assessment was produced to accompany SR 2006 No.355. As SR 2006 No. 440 was simply clarifying the intent of the initial amendment, a regulatory impact assessment was not considered necessary for these regulations.
	The implementation of the remaining requirements of the EU directive is now a matter that is the responsibility of the devolved administration in Northern Ireland.

Irish Study Centre

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the announcement by the Irish Taoiseach that he would be working with him to establish an Irish Study Centre in a British college; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the project.

Peter Hain: The Government are not aware of any formal proposals on this matter.

Royal Ulster Constabulary: Manpower

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many prosecutors were employed in the former Royal Ulster Constabulary and Police Service of Northern Ireland central process offices in each of the last seven years.

Paul Goggins: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has advised us that the figures for the number of prosecutors are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of prosecutors 
			 2000 24 
			 2001 24 
			 2002 21 
			 2003 26 
			 2004 24 
			 2005 (1)26 
			 2006 (2)20 
			 2007 (2)17 
			 (1 )Including 6 agency lawyers. (2 )Including 1 agency lawyer.  Note:  The Public Prosecution Service was established in June 2005; the efficiencies generated as a result help explain the decrease in the number of prosecutors since.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions have been brought in Northern Ireland under section 35 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004; how many resulted in  (a) conviction and  (b) acquittal; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: None.

Prosecutions: Costs

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Solicitor-General what the average cost was of a prosecution within the system established under the Public Prosecution Service in  (a) the magistrates court and  (b) the Crown court in each year since its establishment.

Mike O'Brien: The Public Prosecution Service does not hold information on the average cost of prosecutions. While some unit costs may be identifiable, the overall cost to the PPS of any case it prosecutes, as a percentage of the overall cost of its total workload, is not.

Prosecutions: Northern Ireland

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions were concluded in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years by  (a) police central process offices,  (b) the Director of Public Prosecutions and  (c) the Public Prosecution Service.

Mike O'Brien: The figures for cases concluded in the magistrates and Crown courts are as follows:
	
		
			   Police  DPP/PPS 
			 2002 27,140 5,665 
			 2003 29,205 6,420 
			 2004 28,888 9,244 
			 2005 23,525 13,200 
			 2006 20,519 18,937 
		
	
	The figures relate to cases dealt with at court only. They do not include cases in which decisions not to prosecute were taken, cases dealt with by diversion, cases withdrawn before trial or cases where cautions were given. The DPP/PPS figures include cases prosecuted on behalf of various agencies, such as the Driver and Vehicle Agency, as well as those submitted by the police. The figures for 2006 are provisional.
	Only composite figures for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Public Prosecution Service are available. Although the PPS came into existence as a statutory body on 13 June 2005, the process of taking on police prosecutions commenced before that date through a number of pilot schemes. Further, the process of rolling out the PPS across Northern Ireland means that the transfer of responsibility for prosecuting cases is staged. By 1 September 2007 the PPS will have responsibility for all cases investigated by the police, save a decreasing number of cases already before the courts at that date.

Public Prosecution Service: Manpower

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Solicitor-General how many people  (a) are employed in the Public Prosecution Service and  (b) will be employed in the Public Prosecution Service when it is fully staffed.

Mike O'Brien: As of 31 May 2007 there are 542 people employed in the Public Prosecution Service. The capacity analysis agreed with the Northern Ireland Office is 608.

WALES

Cockling

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has held with the First Minister on cockling.

Nick Ainger: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with the First Minister to discuss a range of issues, including marine and environmental matters.

Government and Welsh Assembly Relations

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he plans to hold with the new Welsh Assembly administration on the changes of relationship between the Government and the Welsh Assembly following the implementation of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

Peter Hain: We have been working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure the Act is implemented effectively, and will continue to do so.

Manufacturing Industry

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent assessment he has made of the prospects for manufacturing industry in Wales.

Peter Hain: Prospects are good. The Quinn Group recently announced that they will be creating more than 300 jobs in Newport with a new manufacturing planttheir second major investment in Newport.

Concessionary Fares: Rail Travel

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the First Minister on extending the pensioners' concessionary fares scheme to rail travel in Wales.

Peter Hain: My hon. Friend and I regularly meet Welsh Assembly Government colleagues to discuss transport matters affecting Wales, including the concessionary fares scheme.

Farming: Supermarket Prices

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues in the Department of Trade and Industry on encouraging Welsh farmers to submit evidence to the Competition Commission's inquiry into supermarket practices.

Nick Ainger: I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues at the Department of Trade and Industry to discuss a variety of issues.

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many of his Department's special advisers were on  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid leave in order to assist with party political matters under section 22 (iii) of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers on 16 May 2007; and how many days' leave each adviser was granted.

Peter Hain: Special advisers' involvement in party political matters is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct For Special Advisers, including section 22 (iii), and the guidance issued by the Cabinet Secretary in December 2006 and May 2007, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.
	Wales Office special advisers are complying fully with this guidance. As with all civil servants, annual leave is a personal matter and it is not the practice of the department to disclose when individuals have taken annual leave.

USA

Hywel Francis: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary, the Welsh Assembly Government and the US embassy on the establishment of a US consulate in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: I am happy to raise this with the US ambassador. I visited the US earlier this year and will continue to work in partnership with the National Assembly for Wales to promote Wales on the international stage.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Breastfeeding

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance the Health and Safety Executive gives to employers on breaks for female employees who are breastfeeding after the birth of a child.

Anne McGuire: HSE does not provide advice on rest breaks for female employees who are breastfeeding. However, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers are required to carry out a risk assessment for all employees including new and expectant mothers and mothers who are breastfeeding. Employers must ensure that a worker who is breastfeeding is not exposed to risks that could damage her health and safety and that of her child for as long as she continues to breastfeed.

Child Support Agency

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how debts owed to the Child Support Agency will be transferred to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission; and how long this process is expected to take;
	(2)  what processes have been put in place to facilitate the transfer of cases from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.

James Plaskitt: The White Paper 'A new system of child maintenance' (Cm 6979) box 3.1, pages 54-55 sets outs the expected timetable of change for the child maintenance system. Subject to parliamentary approval we expect C-MEC to be in place with statutory authority in 2008-09 and that one of its priorities will be to take on responsibility for existing child maintenance operations, this would include existing cases and associated debt.

Children: Poverty

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households with children living below  (a) 60 per cent. of median income and  (b) 40 per cent. of median income are not in receipt of tax credits.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 2 May 2007
	The available information is in the following table.
	The figures are based on OECD equivalisation factors and will not be the same as any figures previously published which were based on McClements equivalisation factors.
	
		
			  Households  with children not in receipt of tax credits, 2005-06 
			  Number (m illion ) 
			   Before housing costs  After housing costs 
			 Household incomes below 60 per cent. of the contemporary median income 0.7 0.9 
			 Household incomes below 40 per cent. of the contemporary median income 0.2 0.4 
			  Source: Family Resources Survey 2005-06

Chile

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Chile.

John Hutton: I visited Chile from 15 to 18 March 2007. While there, I addressed a conference organised by the Policy Network on Globalisation and the New Welfare Model alongside the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet.
	I met my Chilean opposite number, Osvaldo Andrade, at which we were joined by our Argentinean counterpart, Carlos Tomada. This meeting provided an opportunity to compare approaches on pensions and labour market reforms.
	I also met Paulina Velso, Secretary General to the Presidency of Chile. This meeting provided an opportunity to deepen discussion on social issues initiated by Lord Triesman on his visit to Chile in December 2006.

Employment: East Lothian

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent steps have been taken to increase employment levels in East Lothian constituency.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 East Lothian has benefited from a number of programmes and initiatives aimed at increasing employment levels and improving employment opportunities for local people. These have included national programmes like the new deal which, since 1998, has helped 1,970 people in East Lothian into work.
	In October 2006 the new deal plus for lone parents pilot was extended to Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders, meaning eligible lone parents in those areas, including people in East Lothian, can access the extra help and support offered through the initiative. The pilot focuses on a package combining access to good affordable childcare and strong financial work incentives. We recently announced that new deal plus for lone parents will be extended to March 2011 in pilot areas.
	Eligible lone parents in East Lothian leaving benefits for full-time employment can also claim an in-work credit of 40 a week, payable for the first 12 months in work and between October 2004 and January 2007 180 lone parents in the East Lothian constituency received the in-work credit.
	In December, our Pathways to Work programme will also be rolled out in Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders, including East Lothian. This will provide an integrated package of employment advice and health and financial support to help people on incapacity benefits move into work.
	The welfare to work measures we have introduced have, since1997, helped to: increase the employment level in East Lothian by 3.3 percentage points; reduce the number of jobseeker's allowance claimants by 63 per cent. reduce long term claimant unemployment by 88 per cent. reduce youth claimant unemployment by 47 per cent. and reduce long term youth claimant unemployment by 83 per cent.

European Social Fund

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which staff are expected to administer the new single programme under the proposal that the administration of European Social Fund programmes be transferred from Government offices to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); what discussions the Department has had with DWP on the proposed transfer of work; and what the expected benefits are of the transfer.

James Plaskitt: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) already has responsibility for European Social Fund (ESF) expenditure in England. Government offices carry out some ESF administrative tasks at regional level on behalf of DWP. The reduction in ESF funding in 2007-13 and a simpler programme structure mean that fewer staff will be needed in future. Discussions are continuing between DWP and Communities and Local Government on the number and role of Government office staff in the new ESF programme.

Income Support

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents claiming income support stopped claiming that benefit because  (a) their partner status changed,  (b) their employment status changed,  (c) they started claiming a different benefit and  (d) their status changed in any other respect in each month between 1992 and 2007.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 22 May 2007
	The information is not available.

Lone Parents: Copeland

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Copeland were registered for lone parents benefit in the financial year ending  (a) March 1997 and  (b) March 2007.

Jim Murphy: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Because of changes in methodology comparable figures are not available prior to 1999.
	As at November 1999, there were 1,270 people in Copeland in receipt of income support as a lone parent. As at November 2006, there were 870 people in Copeland in receipt of income support as a lone parent.

National Insurance: City of Westminster

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will breakdown by ethnic nationality origin the applicants for national insurance numbers in Westminster in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available prior to 2002. The available information broken down by country of origin has been placed in the Library.

Social Security Benefits

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that all eligible individuals are aware of their entitlements to benefit payments.

James Plaskitt: This Department does all it can to ensure that people are aware of all the benefits to which they are entitled and how to claim them. Leaflets are available at benefits offices, Citizen's Advice Bureaux, and from welfare rights organisations and other advice giving agencies. Information is also available on the Department's website.
	We are also taking steps to improve awareness and take-up of benefits for specific groups. For example, pensioners applying for pension credit can now access housing benefit and council tax benefit over the phone at the same time.
	The Pension Service is undertaking a wide range of steps to encourage eligible pensioners to claim pension credit. For example, writing to everyone who may have an entitlement to pension credit, encouraging them to apply. The pension credit take-up campaign has also helped many older carers to benefit from the Government's abolition of the upper age limit on claims to carer's allowance.
	Information and advice about disability living allowance and attendance allowance is provided by the Department's freephone helpline. The Department also undertakes a considerable amount of local outreach work, and works with partners such as social services and welfare rights organisations who are well placed to identify people who may be entitled to disability benefits.

Social Security Benefits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average amount of time was between receipt of a claim for  (a) disability living allowance,  (b) income support,  (c) carer's allowance,  (d) jobseeker's allowance and (e) incapacity benefit and payment of benefit for claims made by (i) telephone, (ii) post and (iii) online claim form in (A) the UK, (B) England, (C) Scotland, (D) Wales, (E) each English region and (F) each parliamentary constituency in each of the last 10 months.

James Purnell: The information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Carers

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the benefit entitlements are of parents with children or young people  (a) diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and  (b) under a regime of methylphenidate drugs to combat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

James Plaskitt: Depending on their personal circumstances, parents of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and those who are under a regime of methylphenidate drugs to combat the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have access to the full range of social security benefits. Those who provide regular and substantial care of at least 35 hours a week for a severely disabled child receiving the middle or highest rates of the disability living allowance care component can be entitled to a carer's allowance and if on a low income, to the carer premium in the income-related benefits or the carer's additional amount in pension credit.

Welfare Reform

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether Ministers and officials  (a) in his Department and  (b) in other Departments suggested amendments to David Freud's report on the welfare system prior to its publication;
	(2)  on how many occasions drafts of David Freud's report on the welfare system were shown to Ministers and officials  (a) in his Department and  (b) in other Departments prior to the report's publication;
	(3)  at what stage drafts of David Freud's report on the welfare system were first made available to  (a) Ministers in his Department and  (b) to Ministers in other Departments.

Jim Murphy: David Freud involved officials from across the Department in his review and drafts of the report were checked for consistency and factual accuracy prior to publication. Ministers and officials from other Government Departments were similarly asked to check the areas that related to their responsibilities.

Welfare Reform

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many special advisers from his Department worked on David Freud's review of the welfare system.

Jim Murphy: No special advisers were directly involved in working on the review.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Cultural Heritage: Iraq

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1327W, on cultural heritage: Iraq, what discussions she has had with the  (a) British Museum and  (b) British Library on the contribution made to the protection of sites of Iraqi cultural heritage since 2003; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: Ministers have had a number of meetings with the British Museum and the British Library since 2003. These discussions have touched on many aspects of their work, and this has included their work in Iraq.

Cultural Heritage: Iraq

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 27 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1327W, on cultural heritage: Iraq, what assessment she has made of the performance of the British Museum in assisting the preservation of sites of cultural heritage in Iraq; and how much her Department has provided to the British Museum for the purpose of assisting in the preservation of sites of Iraqi cultural heritage in each year since 2003.

Tessa Jowell: The British Museum has undertaken important work in support of the preservation of Iraqi heritage. Work such as hosting three Iraqi interns studying the management of archaeological sites in the UK for eight weeks; providing expertise and training on conservation and site management; and sending archaeologists to Iraq who co-ordinated the quick supply of a wide range of materials and equipment to the Baghdad Museum.
	My Department does not ring fence the Grant-in-Aid it provides to the national museums and galleries it sponsors. It is a matter for the institutions themselves to decide how best to spend the funds they receive. The British Museum has received the following Grant-in-Aid since 2003:
	
		
			million 
			 2003-04 37.3 
			 2004-05 37.9 
			 2005-06 39.6 
			 2006-07 42.9 
			 2007-08 44.9

Digital Broadcasting: Scotland

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her estimate is of the number of households which will qualify for assistance in switching over to digital television in  (a) the parliamentary constituency of Gordon and  (b) Scotland.

Shaun Woodward: Details for the Gordon constituency and Scotland are as follows:
	
		
			   Households (defined as eligible benefit units) 
			 Gordon 9,000 
			 Scotland 649,000 
			  Notes: 1. Totals rounded to the nearest thousand. 2. Eligibility for help from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme will be by benefit unit rather than the whole household definition used by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Office to forecast future household growth. 3. The definition of a benefit unit is a couple and any dependent children. It excludes adults deemed to be non-dependents who, if eligible, will be able to claim assistance from the Help Scheme in their own right.

English Heritage: Public Appointments

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects to be in a position to announce the name of the new Chairman of English Heritage.

Tessa Jowell: I announced the appointment of Lord Bruce-Lockhart as the new Chair of English Heritage on 24 May 2007.

Olympic Games

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  on what date the Home Office was made aware of the numbers provided by the Metropolitan Police referred to in note 1 of the minutes of the Olympic cost review steering group of 28 November 2005;
	(2)  what figure the Metropolitan Police provided as their further thought on numbers for security, referred to in note 1 of the minutes of the Olympic cost review steering group of 28 November 2005.

Tessa Jowell: The Metropolitan Police Service has advised that the information was sent to the Home Office on 15 December 2005.
	The Metropolitan Police Service provided an initial estimate of 464 million. This included the costs of policing the Olympic Park but excluded the costs incurred by other police forces, those associated with VIP protection and costs of other agencies such as the Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.
	As I announced in my statement to the House of 15 March 2007, within the budget for the Games we have allocated a figure of 600 million for wider security. This does not include the Olympic Delivery Authority's spending on security for the Olympic venues.
	Policing costs are kept under continuous review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Olympic Games

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department plans to conduct a public consultation on the decision announced on 15 March to allocate an additional 675 million of lottery funding to the London Olympics in 2012.

Tessa Jowell: I will be consulting the Lottery distributing bodies, the devolved administrations and other key stakeholders. I have already discussed the timing and approach with the distributors.
	We intend to give the distributors the highest degree of certainty and the greatest possible time for planning.

Olympic Games

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the effect of the diversion of lottery funds for the Olympics on other potential beneficiaries of lottery funds.

Tessa Jowell: The overall lottery contribution to the London 2012 Olympic games will be 2.175 billion. We appreciate that there will be a particular impact between 2009 and 2012 but there is currently projected to be over 4 billion in new lottery money available for non-Olympic good causes during that period.
	There is no need for existing commitments made by distributors to be affected. My Department has agreed with the Big Lottery Fund that resources for the voluntary and community sector will be protected.

Olympic Games

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the statement of 15 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 450-52, on the 2012 Olympics, when her Department plans to bring forward regulations to enact the decision to transfer an additional 675 million of lottery funding to pay for the London Olympics in 2012.

Tessa Jowell: I have undertaken to consult lottery distributors, the devolved administrations and other key stakeholders about the proposed transfers. This will be launched soon and will run for three months. We will bring forward secondary legislation after the consultation is completed.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Departmental Responsibilities

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the future functions of her Department; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with her Cabinet colleagues.

Departments: Official Engagements

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will list her diary engagements from 1 October 2006 to 28 February 2007.

Ruth Kelly: The Secretary of State had the following meetings with external organisations and stakeholders between 1 October 2006 and 28 February 2007. This has been placed in the Library of the House and is also available on the CLG FOI Disclosure log (since January 2007).
	Details of internal meetings are not placed into the public domain, as this would inhibit the frank exchange between Ministers and officials which is necessary to policy development.
	
		
			Meeting details 
			 2 October Meeting Meeting with National Consumer Council 
			  Purpose Update meeting 
			
			 3 October Meeting Meeting with Association of Chief Police Officers 
			  Purpose Update meeting 
			
			 9 October Meeting Meeting with CBI 
			  Purpose Update meeting 
			
			 17 October Meeting Meeting with Asset Skills 
			  Purpose Introductory meeting 
			
			 18 October Meeting Meeting with English Regions Network 
			  Purpose Introductory meeting 
			
			 18 October Meeting Meeting with Local Government Association 
			  Purpose Update meeting 
			
			 30 October Meeting Meeting with NSPCC 
			  Purpose To discuss working practices 
			
			 1 November Meeting Meeting with Shelter 
			  Purpose Introductory meeting 
			
			 8 November Meeting Meeting with Justice and Peace Council 
			  Purpose To discuss interfaith work and community cohesion 
			
			 21 November Meeting Meeting with Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment 
			  Purpose To discuss design quality matters 
			
			 5 December Meeting Meeting with Green stakeholders 
			  Purpose To discuss the Green Package 
			
			 11 December Meeting Meeting with the Six-O Group 
			  Purpose To discuss the Equalities Act 
			
			 10 January Meeting Meeting with Martin Cave 
			  Purpose To discuss the Cave review 
			
			 11 January Meeting Meeting with Local Government Association 
			  Purpose To discuss LGA's proposals to take forward key elements of the Local Government White Paper 
			 15 January Meeting Meeting with Stonewall 
			  Purpose To discuss the Equalities Act 
			
			 16 January Meeting Meeting with Archbishop of Cardiff 
			  Purpose To discuss the Equalities Act 
			  Meeting Meeting with Caritas 
			  Purpose To discuss the Equalities Act 
			
			 17 January Meeting Meeting with the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress 
			  Purpose To discuss the Equalities Act 
			
			 23 January Meeting Meeting with the Chief Executive of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering 
			  Purpose To discuss the Equalities Act 
			
			 31 January Meeting IKEA Representatives 
			  Purpose Introductory Meeting 
			
			 1 February Meeting Meeting with retails stakeholders 
			  Purpose Planning Stakeholder Meeting 
			
			 5 February Meeting Green stakeholders 
			  Purpose Planning Stakeholder Meeting 
			 5 February Meeting Professor John Hills 
			  Purpose To discuss the Hills Review of Social Housing 
			
			 5 February Meeting Chief Executive of the CEHR 
			  Purpose Introductory Meeting 
			
			 12 February Meeting Local Government Association and Authority Representatives 
			  Purpose Planning Stakeholder Meeting 
			
			 13 February Meeting Commission on Local Councillors 
			  Purpose Introductory discussion 
			
			 14 February Meeting Sir Michael Lyons 
			  Purpose To discuss the Lyons Review 
			
			 21 February Meeting Equal Opportunities Commission 
			  Purpose To discuss current EoC issues 
			
			 22 February Meeting Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) 
			  Purpose To discuss the Sustainable Communities Plan 
			
			 22 February Meeting Chair of the CEHR 
			  Purpose Discuss the Equalities Act 
			
			 27 February Meeting Local Government Association 
			  Purpose To discuss preventing extremism 
			
			 28 February Meeting Meeting with Chief Rabbi 
			  Purpose Discuss inter faith issues 
			
			 28 February Meeting Meeting with LGA 
			  Purpose Update meeting

Disabled: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of Warrington borough council's services for children with disabilities.

Parmjit Dhanda: I have been asked to reply.
	Ofsted with other inspectorates will undertake a joint area review of children's services in Warrington in autumn 2007. This will include making a judgment and reporting specifically on services for children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
	The annual performance assessment of local authority children's services undertaken by Ofsted, with, until 2006, the Commission for Social Care Inspection, does not make a scored judgment specifically on services for such children. However, it considers such services in reaching a judgment on the council's overall performance on children's services. The letter summarising the 2006 annual performance assessment of Warrington, issued by the two inspectorates on 1 November 2006, notes as an area for improvement the delivery of services to children with disabilities to support their staying safe.
	The recently published Disabled Children's Review announced a funding package of 340 million over the next Comprehensive Spending Review period for 2008-09 to 2010-11, to be spent on improving service provision across the board for disabled children.

European Regional Development Fund

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what response her Department has received from the European Commission on its proposal that administration of the European Regional Development Fund and its successor be delivered by the regional development agencies rather than Government offices for the English regions.

Yvette Cooper: The European Commission has agreed that the day to day administration of the 10 English European Regional Development Fund programmes covering 2007 to 2013 will be carried out by the regional development agencies. The precise arrangements for implementing the transition from the Government offices to the RDAs are currently under discussion.

European Regional Development Fund

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when the transfer of functions will take place in respect of the proposed transfer of European Regional Development Fund administration from Government offices for the English regions to regional development agencies; what will be the role of the Department in managing the new programme; and what arrangements are in place to manage the wind-down and closure of the existing programme.

Yvette Cooper: My Department will be the Managing, Certifying and Audit Authority for 2007 to 2013 European Regional Development Fund programmes in England, although we will delegate most of the day-to-day Managing Authority functions to the regional development agencies. We are aiming formally to transfer these functions as from 1 October 2007.
	Government offices are managing the closure of the 2000 to 2006 ERDF programmes. Action is well advanced to meet the European Commission's closure deadlines.

Farmers: Markets

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she provides to local authorities who operate or organise farmers' markets on certification under the scheme operated by the National Farmers Retail and Markets Association.

Barry Gardiner: I have been asked to reply.
	My Department encourages farmers' markets in a number of ways: directly, through funding under a range of grant schemes; and indirectly through our work with bodies such as FARMA (the National Farmer and Retail Markets Association) and local authorities to facilitate the establishment of farmers' markets. We have written to the chief executives of local authorities drawing their attention to the benefits to the rural economy and to town centres that such markets can bring. We have also sponsored the Local Government Association Guide on Farmers' Markets,
	Developing good practice for sustainable farmers' marketsa practical guide for local authorities.
	The guidance aims to:
	Highlight issues of interest to local authorities in relation to farmers' markets;
	Link farmers' markets to related areas of interest;
	Signpost local authorities and market organisers to areas of good practice; and
	Stimulate further relevant research and interest into farmers' markets.

First Time Buyers

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to mitigate the effect of increases in house prices for first time buyers.

Yvette Cooper: Kate Barker's Review of Housing Supply recommended that a step-change in housing supply was necessary to address worsening affordability due to a long term undersupply of housing. Government's response, published in 2005, set out an ambition to increase housing supply to 200,000 per annum by 2016.
	Good progress has been made, with supply increasing from a low of around 130,000 new homes in 2001-02, to over 180,000 in 2005-06. We recognise however, that we still need to go further to address demand, and are determined to maintain momentum.
	Since publishing the Barker Response, we have been working to implement the measures it announced. Among other achievements, we have published a new Planning Policy Statement 3, announced a series of new Growth Points, announced proposals that all new homes should be built to zero carbon standards by 2016, and set up a National Housing and Planning Advice Unit.
	In addition our HomeBuy scheme will help people on modest incomes to get a step on the housing ladder. The Government's HomeBuy scheme will expand the opportunity for home ownership to over a 120,000 households between 2005 and 2010. In 2006-08 we are investing 970 million through the National Affordable Housing programme to deliver 35,000 new low cost home ownership properties.

Benefits: North East Region

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how many pensioners  (a) in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland,  (b) on Teesside and  (c) in the North East are entitled to claim housing benefit; what percentage of those eligible to make a claim do not do so; and what the value of unclaimed housing benefit was in each area in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many pensioners  (a) in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland,  (b) on Teesside and  (c) in the North East are entitled to claim council tax benefit; what percentage of pensioners in each area entitled to make a claim do so; and what the average value is of the unmade claims by pensioners in each area;
	(3)  how many people  (a) in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland,  (b) on Teesside and  (c) in the North East are entitled to claim council tax benefit; what percentage of people in each area entitled to make a claim do so; and what the average value is of the unmade claims in each area;
	(4)  what estimate she has made of the amount of unclaimed council tax benefit  (a) in Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland,  (b) on Teesside and  (c) in the North East.

James Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply.
	Information is not available below national level.
	The latest estimates of the take-up of the main income-related benefits: income support, pension credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (income-based) can be found in the DWP report entitled Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up in 2004-05. Copies of the publication are available in the Library.

Housing: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many children were registered as living in  (a) temporary accommodation,  (b) non-decent accommodation and  (c) overcrowded accommodation in each London borough in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: pursuant to the reply, 18 May 2007, Official Report, c. 978-79W
	Information on children in temporary accommodation is only available from 2004. Figures for local authorities in London are provided in table 1.
	
		
			  Table 1: number of children in temporary accomodation( 1)  on 31 December 2004-06: by London local authority 
			  Local authority  2004  2005  2006 
			 Barking and Dagenham 589 614 958 
			 Barnet (2) (2) (2) 
			 Bexley 632 598 612 
			 Brent 7087 6,742 5,933 
			 Bromley (2) (2) 1,271 
			 Camden 2,438 2,703 2,319 
			 City of London 54 0 28 
			 Croydon 5,006 4,325 3,547 
			 Ealing (2) 3,640 3,362 
			 Enfield 6,649 6,890 (2) 
			 Greenwich 523 842 963 
			 Hackney 3,165 3,155 2,900 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 2,649 2,767 2,786 
			 Haringey (2) (2) (2) 
			 Harrow 2,526 2,373 2,298 
			 Havering 802 1,013 675 
			 Hillingdon 3,394 2,552 2,482 
			 Hounslow (2) (2) (2) 
			 Islington (2) (2) (2) 
			 Kensington and Chelsea (2) (2) 346 
			 Kingston upon Thames (2) (2) (2) 
			 Lambeth 2,068 2,450 2,970 
			 Lewisham 1,931 2,445 2,740 
			 Merton 195 108 87 
			 Newham (2) (2) (2) 
			 Redbridge (2) (2) (2) 
			 Richmond upon Thames 545 582 496 
			 Southwark 680 1,016 1,352 
			 Sutton 699 765 656 
			 Tower Hamlets 4,918 4,469 3,963 
			 Waltham Forest 2,189 3,924 4,290 
			 Wandsworth 2,012 1,863 1,587 
			 Westminster (2) (2) (2) 
			 (1) Households in temporary accommodation (excluding applicants recorded as homeless at home) on the last day of the quarter, as arranged by a local housing authority as a discharge of their statutory homelessness functions. (2) Local authority did not report.  Source: PIE quarterly returns 
		
	
	Estimates of the number of children living in non-decent or in overcrowded homes in each of the London boroughs is not available.

Housing: London

Frank Dobson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1286-88W, on housing: London, how many dwellings in the category intermediate homes were allocated to  (a) homeless families and  (b) families on council waiting lists; and if she will break down the figures provided in the answer by London borough.

Yvette Cooper: This information is not collected centrally.

Housing: Low Incomes

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of  (a) council and  (b) Housing Association homes for controlled rent being built in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09; and how many were built in each of the last three years.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 4 June 2007
	For the years 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 local authorities have provided 100, 299 and 245 social rented homes respectively. Over the same time frame registered social landlords provided 20,917, 23,020 and 24,580 social rented homes respectively. Almost all of these were grant funded through Housing Corporation but a small amount are through grant free Section 106. Figures for 2006-07 are provisional.
	For 2007-08 we are currently estimating that of our target of 30,000 social rented units around 300 homes will be provided through local authorities and 28,000 through registered social landlords funded via Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing programme. The remainder will be delivered through other routes such as Section 106 without grant.
	For 2008-09 delivery of social rented homes will be subject to the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007. We have already stated that we intend to make the provision of social rented homes a priority.

Housing: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the policy of the Newcastle Gateshead Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder to achieve 25 per cent. affordable housing to rent or buy in its new, replacement or regenerated housing developments was set  (a) with Government approval and  (b) after Government guidance.

Yvette Cooper: All the housing market renewal pathfinders have developed evidence based strategies to address the housing needs and aspirations of all their residents and deliver a mix of dwelling types appropriate to their markets. As part of these strategies, pathfinders are expected to use their market intelligence and the views gathered in their engagement with communities to address the question of affordability in their intervention areas. The overall strategies have been approved by Government.

Planning: Environment Protection

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the planned new independent infrastructure planning commission will have any duties to consider or protect tranquillity.

Yvette Cooper: Paragraphs 5.39 to 5.48 of the White Paper 'Planning for a Sustainable Future' (Cm 7120) explain decision making by the infrastructure planning commission. The commission would, in determining applications for development consent for nationally significant infrastructure projects, be required to take into account relevant adverse local consequences that are incompatible with relevant EC and domestic law including human rights legislation. Relevant EC and domestic law for development consent covers a wide range of factors, including those relating to the impact on the local community and local environment. We do not propose a specific duty on the commission to consider or protect tranquillity.
	The White Paper asks a consultation question on the framework for the commission to decide applications. We will listen to consultation responses and specify the framework for commission decisions in legislation to establish the commission.

Recycling: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of Warrington borough council's progress towards meeting targets for recycling.

Ben Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
	Recycling and composting targets for household waste were set for each local authority for 2003-04 and 2005-06. Targets have also been set for 2007-08.
	Warrington borough council achieved a 13 per cent. recycling and composting rate in 2003-04, against their target of 20 per cent. In 2005-06, they reached a rate of 19 per cent. against their target of 30 per cent. While clearly there is a gap between the rates Warrington has achieved and their statutory targets, I understand that their performance has recently improved and is now moving close to their target of 30 per cent. for 2007-08.
	My Department is working with the regional Government Offices on a programme of engagement with poor performing local authorities against their 2005-06 statutory recycling targets, including ministerial meetings with the very worst performers.

Regional Development: East of England

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the final version of the East of England Regional Strategy.

Meg Munn: holding answer 24 May 2007
	We are considering the substantial number of representations, (12,000), on the Secretary of State's Proposed Changes to the East of England Plan (Draft Revisions to the Regional Spatial Strategy for the East of England). We intend, if possible, to publish the final version of the east of England plan before the summer recess.

Rented Housing

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the impact of trends in buy-to-let properties on  (a) the housing market and  (b) homelessness.

Yvette Cooper: Estimating the precise impact of buy-to-let on the housing market is difficult and there is little evidence available. The buy-to-let market has expanded rapidly in the last 10 years since the creation of dedicated buy-to-let mortgages in 1996, rising from 6 per cent. of the private rented stock in 2000 to almost 35 per cent. in 2006. Despite this increase in buy-to-let, the overall size of the private rented sector has remained relatively stable and has only experienced a slight increase as a proportion of total stock from about 10 per cent. to 12 per cent. There has been an increase in the proportion of private rented sector properties that are buy-to-let.
	Evidence from the English House Conditions Survey shows that between 1996 and 2004 the percentage of 'decent' homes in the PRS has increased by nearly 35 per cent. compared to only 18 per cent. in the owner-occupied sector.
	In recent years, due to the increase in supply of private rented properties, rents have not been rising as fast as house prices. This suggests that buy-to-let is unlikely to have had a significant impact on homelessness, which is currently at its lowest level since the early 1980s.

Rented Housing

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of buy-to-let houses in  (a) Luton,  (b) the East of England and  (c) England.

Yvette Cooper: Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that the number of outstanding buy-to-let mortgages in England has increased from around 120,000 in 2000 to around 850,000 in 2006. Despite this large increase, the private rented sector as a whole only increased over this period from about 10 per cent. to 12 per cent. of the total housing stock (Source: Communities and Local Government Survey of English Housing).
	Information is not held centrally on the number of buy-to-let properties below the national level.

Second Homes: Coastal Areas

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the impact of second home ownership on the availability of affordable housing in coastal towns.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have not made an assessment of the impact of second homes ownership on the availability of affordable housing in coastal towns.
	Multiple home ownership does not contribute significantly to house price inflation nationally, accounting for just 1 per cent. of the housing stock. However, in some highly localised areas, including some coastal towns, much higher levels of multiple home ownership are prevalent.
	When planning for the provision of affordable housing, local planning authorities should aim to ensure that provision meets the needs of both current and future occupiers, taking into account information from a strategic housing market assessment.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Departments: Advertising

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which  (a) advertising agencies and  (b) other organisations supplied consultancy services for advertising campaigns for (i) her Department and (ii) its agencies in each of the last five years; and what the cost of these services was.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not keep a central record of amounts spent on consultancy services for advertising campaigns. This information, and the names of the advertising agencies and other organisations who have supplied consultancy services in each of the last five years, could be obtained only by requiring budget holders in the FCO and its agencies to examine all relevant invoices for this period. To do this would incur disproportionate cost.

Departments: Carbon Emissions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what methodology is used by her Department to account for its carbon emissions.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office accounts for its carbon emissions from energy by applying the relevant carbon emission factor recommended by the Building Research Establishment to the total consumption for each type of energy used. The resulting value is weather corrected to reflect average ambient temperatures for the year.
	For travel, the factor published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is applied to total miles travelled, where available, for each method of travel.

Egypt: Political Prisoners

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations she has made to the Government of Egypt on Ayman Nour, the imprisoned leader of the El-Ghad party, with particular reference to  (a) the justice of his incarceration and  (b) his ability to receive medical attention; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Mr. Nour was convicted and sentenced to five years' imprisonment in December 2005 on charges of forging signatures required to register his newly-established political party, Al-Ghad. All appeals for his release have so far been rejected.
	Mr. Nour has access to medical facilities, including hospitals. The National Council for Human Rights visited him in May this year. The latest appeal hearing to determine whether Mr. Nour should be released on medical grounds is scheduled for 12 June. We would of course welcome such a release.
	At the time of Mr. Nour's conviction we publicly voiced our concerns about his imprisonment and called for his release. In 2006, the EU raised the case with the Ministry of Justice and asked to visit Mr. Nour: the request was eventually refused on legal grounds. We continue to follow his case closely and to raise it with Egypt at official level.

Russia

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her Russian counterpart on Russians living in the United Kingdom who advocate violence against the Russian Government.

Geoff Hoon: The Russian authorities have raised concerns about Russian nationals resident in the UK with myself and other Government Ministers. But it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the legal position of any individuals. As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear on 13 April, we deplore any statement which appears to call for the overthrow of the Russian Government by force.

Uganda: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 May 2007,  Official Report, column 240, if she will make a statement on the report of the Commonwealth Secretariat on the choice of Uganda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Kim Howells: The Commonwealth Secretariat issued a public statement on 26 April, confirming Kampala as the venue for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November. This is consistent with the decision made by Commonwealth Heads of Government at CHOGM in Abuja in 2003. We are not aware of the Commonwealth Secretariat issuing any other reports on this matter.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken working in collaboration with the National Farmers' Union to ensure that those farmers affected by the late payment, partial payment, non-payment and mis-payment of the single farm payment  (a) remain economically viable and  (b) suffer no long-term effect to their business.

Barry Gardiner: The farmers concerned will be best served by the Rural Payments Agency's continued focus on making payments under the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) and, where necessary, adjustments to SPS entitlement values, in the earliest possible time frame. The latest position on these issues was reported in the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 15 May 2007,  Official Report, column 29WS.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will compensate farmers who incurred costs through delays in making single farm payments.

Barry Gardiner: As announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in his statement of 22 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1478, the Rural Payments Agency has been authorised to make interest payments at the London Interbank Offered Rate +1 per cent. on sums due under the 2005 Single Payment Scheme which were outstanding at the end of the EU Regulatory payment window for the scheme on 30 June 2006. Such payments are calculated from 1 July 2006 until the date of payment and are subject to a minimum interest payment level of 50. As at 3 May 2007, such payments have totalled 1,161,299.29.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the determination of single farm payments in 2007.

Barry Gardiner: I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 15 May 2007,  Official  Report, column 29WS.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Rural Payments Agency's review of claims involving fruit, vegetable and potato single payment scheme authorisations has been completed; when claimants will be notified of their authorisation allocations; if he will publish the results of the review; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The Rural Payments Agency wrote to affected Single Payment Scheme applicants in January to explain the background to its, then recently completed, review of the allocation of fruit and vegetable authorisations and to confirm the outcome in respect of applicants' individual cases.

Animal Welfare: China

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese Government on animal welfare issues in China.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on 9 May,  Official Report, column 238W.

Animal Welfare: New Forest

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on issues relating to animal welfare on common land, with particular reference to the New Forest.

Ben Bradshaw: The welfare of all animals, including those on common land, is protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This Act makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any animal and contains a duty of care which means that owners of all animals must take reasonable steps to make sure their needs are met.
	In the New Forest, Agisters appointed by the Verderers' court monitor the condition of livestock. The Agisters may remove animals which fall below set welfare standards from the open forest and the owners must take steps to improve their condition. DEFRA also appoints a Verderer to the court who keeps a watching brief on animal welfare issues in the New Forest.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: Compensation

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of fraud relating to the Over Thirty Months Scheme have been investigated since the scheme began; and how many prosecutions have resulted.

Barry Gardiner: The Over Thirty Months Scheme ceased operation on 22 January 2006 and was succeeded by the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme.
	There have been 318 cases of suspected fraud relating to the Over Thirty Months Scheme investigated by the Department and eight successful prosecutions resulted. To date one case of suspected fraud relating to the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme has been investigated with no prosecution resulting.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Minsterley

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will visit the village of Minsterley to meet farmers who have experienced bovine TB in their cattle.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA Ministers receive many invitations to visit farmers in different parts of the country to discuss their individual circumstances and issues. Unfortunately, it is not possible to accept all of these. However, I am glad to have had the opportunity to meet the hon. Member and a delegation of farmers from Shropshire to discuss bovine TB earlier this year.
	Although we cannot accept all the invitations received, Ministers and officials do have regular meetings with organisations representing farmers and cattle keepers to discuss a range of key issues, including TB.

Cattle: Registration

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of cattle in England without a valid passport.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 21 May 2007
	Data from the cattle tracing system show that there are 37,300 cattle in Great Britain with notices of registration, that is cattle which have been registered but for which a passport has not been issued. This would be as a result of the passport application being submitted late or with incomplete or invalid details that could not be resolved.
	In the time available it has not been possible to obtain an exact figure for England only but based on the proportion of the national herd that is resident in England, I estimate that there are 24,000 cattle without a valid passport in England.
	There may also be a number of cattle which have never been notified to the central database. 10 per cent. of cattle holdings are inspected annually. From June 2006 to April 2007, 1,500 cattle out of 398,016 inspected were found that had not been registered. However it should be noted that holdings are selected for inspection on a risk basis and this is therefore not a representative sample.
	Animals without a valid passport cannot be moved off their current holding and can never enter the human food chain.

Coastal Areas: Access

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to bring forward legislation to improve access to coastal areas.

Barry Gardiner: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1208W.

Common Agricultural Policy

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he is having with his EU counterparts on reform of the common agricultural policy.

Barry Gardiner: My Department has regular discussions with our EU counterparts on reform of the common agricultural policy.

Darwin Initiative

David Heyes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will increase the funding to the Darwin Initiative.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 4 June 2007
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) on 3 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1793W.

Departments: Consultants

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list the outside  (a) agencies and  (b) consultancies which are undertaking work commissioned by his Department; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) cost is of each commission.

Barry Gardiner: The Department does not hold a central list of what every outside agency and consultancy undertaking work in DEFRA has been or is commissioned to do. Such a list could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I have placed in the House of Commons Library a list held centrally of the outside agencies and consultancies paid fees by the core Department in 2005-06. A similar list for each of DEFRA's executive agencies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	I refer the hon. Member to the recently published NAO report on Central Government's Use of Consultants. The Department is in the process of ensuring that it meets the recommendations contained therein.

Departments: ICT

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) originally estimated,  (b) most recently estimated and  (c) outturn cost was of the five largest information technology contracts agreed by his Department with outside suppliers over the last five years.

Barry Gardiner: If I may refer to the answer provided in June 2006, PQ 4875 05/06. The updated figures are as follows:
	 Accenture
	 (a) Original estimated cost34.10 million;
	 (b) Recently estimated costs68.05 million;
	 (c) Outturn costs68.05 million (plus enhancement work to the value of 928,000 in 2005-06 and 2.7 million in 2006-07.)
	Support and maintenance costs are included in the original contract.
	 IBM
	 (a) Original estimated cost 85 million per year;
	 (b) Recently estimated costs97.9 million per year;
	 (c) Outturn costs: 2004-0528.26 million; 2005-06111.12 million; 2006-07147.56 million.
	The estimated costs are based on initial predicted demand for IBM services; the higher outturn costs represent the increased demand for IBM services by projects in delivering DEFRA's strategic objectives. The contract with IBM incorporates sufficient flexibility to allow significant variation in demand, with costs varying directly in proportion.
	 LogicaCMG
	 (a) Original estimated cost16.10 million;
	 (b) Recently estimated costs18.42 million (total life time cost);
	 (c) Outturn costscost of supply was 6.7 million in 2002.
	The balance is for support and maintenance to be paid over the remainder of the contract, which ends in 2014.
	As with the previous answer, smaller local IT contracts will also have been agreed; however, information on these is neither managed nor maintained centrally, and therefore it would incur disproportionate costs to collate. Only by reference to such information would it be possible to determine which are the fourth and fifth largest IT contracts, agreed with outside suppliers, in the Department.

Departments: Internet

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for which Government websites he is responsible; how many visitors each received in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the cost  (a) was of establishing and  (b) has been of maintaining each site.

Barry Gardiner: The costs for maintaining DEFRA's website (www.defra.gov.uk) are estimated to be 243,561 for this financial year.
	Available data on the visitors to websites which are the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, are set out in the following table. Costs for establishing and maintaining these sites are not available without incurring disproportionate cost.
	As part of the Transformational Government web rationalisation process, DEFRA is currently reviewing all its websites. Over time, content will be rationalised and where appropriate moved to Directgov and Business Link. A number of the current websites will close.
	
		
			  URL  Number of unique visitors per month (collated July 2006) 
			 www.defra.gov.uk 379,000 
			   
			  Domains operated by core DEFRA  
			 www.airquality.co.uk 20,000 
			 www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/ No data 
			 www.climatechallenge.gov.uk No data 
			 www.dwi.gov.uk/ 23,000 
			 www.eca-water.gov.uk 3,350 
			 www.forwardfarming.org.uk No data 
			 www.gmsciencedebate.org.uk 3,000 
			 www.GVS.gov.uk 1,358 
			 www.lagmsupport.org.uk No data 
			 www.mceu.gov.uk 3,000 
			 www.naei.co.uk No data 
			 www.nationalfallenstock.co.uk No data 
			 www.noisemapping.org No data 
			 www.partnersforwater.org No data 
			 www.pece.co.uk 606 
			 www.sustainable-development.gov.uk 23,000 
			 www.ukmab.org.uk No data 
			 www.uksocialdeprivation.aeat.com No data 
			 www.smokecontrolareas.co.uk No data 
			 www.ukswedensustainability.org No data 
			   
			  DEFRA's Executive agencies  
			 www.bcms.gov.uk (1)53,000 
			 www.cefas.co.uk No data 
			 www.csi.gov.uk No data 
			 www.efishbusiness.co.uk No data 
			 www.gds.gov.uk No data 
			 www.mfa.gov.uk No data 
			 www.pesticides.gov.uk 11,792 
			 www.rpa.gov.uk 17,646 
			 www.svs.gov.uk/ No data 
			 www.vla.gov.uk 12,000 
			 www.vmd.gov.uk 5,000 
			  DEFRA's advisory NDPBs  
			 www.fawc.org.uk 8,647 
			 www.nbu.ac.uk/negtap/ No data 
			 www.rcep.org.uk No data 
			 www.sd-commission.org.uk 10,000 
			 www.seac.gov.uk 1,291 
			 www.vet-residues-committee.gov.uk 5,000 
			 www.vpc.gov.uk No data 
			   
			  DEFRA's Executive NDPBs  
			 www.ccwater.org.uk No data 
			 www.environment-aqency.gov.uk 351,796 
			 www.foodfrombritain.com (1)1,064 
			 www.gla.gov.uk No data 
			 www.kew.org No data 
			 www-plantcultures.org No data 
			 www.nationalforest.org 12,000 
			 www.landshapes.org 12,000 
			 www.seafish.org 32,976 
			 www.jncc.gov.uk 44,000 
			 www.natural-england.org No data 
			 www.countryside.gov.uk 145,000 
			 www.english-nature.org No data 
			 www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk 5,000 
			   
			  DEFRA levy boards  
			 www.potato.org.uk No data 
			 www.hgca.com 9,244 
			 www.mdc.org.uk 90,000 
			 www.mdcdatum.org.uk 10,000 
			 www.mdcfmp.org.uk 8,971 
			 www.schoolmilk.co.uk 1,000 
			 www.mlc.org.uk No data 
			 www.beefyandlamby.co.uk 24,460 
			 www.bmesonline.org.uk No data 
			 www.lookforthemark.co.uk No data 
			 www.bpex.org.uk No data 
			 www.eblex.org.uk No data 
			 www.meatandhealth.com No data 
			 www.meatmatters.com 21,000 
			 www.porkforbutchers.co.uk No data 
			 www.stotfoldpigs.co.uk No data 
			   
			  DEFRA public corporations  
			 www.cgma.gov.uk No data 
			   
			  Other DEFRA NDPBs  
			 www.recyclenow.com 65,573 
			   
			  Other DEFRA sponsored bodies  
			 www.wrap.org.uk 31,951 
			 www.lake-district.gov.uk 50,000 
			 www.northumberland-national-park.org.uk 13,000 
			 www.peakdistrict.gov.uk 13,000 
			 www.yorkshiredales.org.uk 13,330 
			 www.nnfcc.co.uk No data 
			 www.nationalparks.gov.uk 11,000 
			 (1) Unique visitors per week

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisors

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his Department's special advisers were on  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid leave in order to assist with party political matters under section 22 (iii) of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers on 16 May 2007; and how many days' leave each adviser was granted.

Barry Gardiner: Special advisers' involvement in party political matters is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers, including section 22 (iii), and the guidance issued by the Cabinet Secretary in December 2006 and May 2007, copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total value of private finance initiative projects included in his Department's balance sheet  (a) is in 2007 and  (b) was in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Barry Gardiner: The value of private finance initiative (PFI) projects included in the core Department and Environment Agency's balance sheets as at 31 March 2007 was nil. This was also the case in each of the last five years. All DEFRA PFI projects are treated as off-balance sheet.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value was of annual private finance initiative payments made by his Department from  (a) capital and  (b) revenue budgets in each of the last five years.

Barry Gardiner: The core Department is currently involved in one private finance initiative (PFI) project to provide office facilities at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge. There are also two PFI projects being undertaken by the Environment Agency, one of our sponsored non-departmental public bodies.
	Information about the value of annual PFI payments for the last five years, made by the core Department and the Environment Agency are set out in the following table. All payments were made from revenue budgets.
	
		
			  PFI 
			  Organisation  Project description  Year  Annual private finance initiative payments  ( million) 
			 Environment Agency Broadland Flood Alleviation Project 2002-03 1.90 
			   2003-04 1.69 
			   2004-05 1.52 
			   2005-06 1.41 
			   2006-07 (1)1.38 
			 Environment Agency Pevensey Bay Sea Defences 2002-03 1.43 
			   2003-04 1.81 
			   2004-05 1.87 
			   2005-06 1.91 
			   2006-07 (1)1.96 
			 DEFRA Office Facilities at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge 2002-03  
			   2003-04  
			   2004-05 3.24 
			   2005-06 3.73 
			   2006-07 (1)3.73 
			 (1) Estimate 
		
	
	The Department also provides support in the form of PFI credits to allow local authorities to enter into PFI contracts to provide waste recycling and management facilities. However, payments for these PFI projects are made by the relevant local authorities from their revenue budgets and do not fall within DEFRA's accounting boundary.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what value of annual private finance initiative payments by his Department was classified as  (a) identifiable and  (b) non-identifiable in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Barry Gardiner: The core Department is currently involved in one private finance initiative (PFI) project to provide office facilities at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge. There are also two PFI projects being undertaken by the Environment Agency, one of our sponsored non-departmental public bodies.
	Information about the value of annual PFI payments, in the last five years, made by the core Department and the Environment Agency are set out in the following table.
	All payments made under PFI are identifiable. Prior to a PFI contract being signed the profile of unitary charge payments is agreed between the contractor and the public sector, subject to the operation of the payment mechanism
	
		
			  PFI 
			  Organisation  Project  d escription  Year  Annual  p rivate  f inance  i nitiative  p ayments  ( million) 
			 Environment Agency Broadland Flood Alleviation Project 2002-03 1.90 
			   2003-04 1.69 
			   2004-05 1.52 
			   2005-06 1.41 
			   2006-07 (1)1.38 
			 Environment Agency Pevensey Bay Sea Defences 2002-03 1.43 
			   2003-04 1.81 
			   2004-05 1.87 
			   2005-06 1.91 
			   2006-07 (1)1.96 
			 DEFRA Office Facilities at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge 2002-03  
			   2003-04  
			   2004-05 3.24 
			   2005-06 3.73 
			   2006-07 (1)3.73 
			 (1 )Estimate. 
		
	
	The Department also provides support in the form of PFI credits to allow local authorities to enter into PFI contracts to provide waste recycling and management facilities. However, payments for these PFI projects are made by the relevant local authorities and do not fall within DEFRA's accounting boundary.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what value of annual private finance initiative (PFI) payments were  (a) to repay capital and  (b) expenditure on other parts of each PFI contract in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Barry Gardiner: The core Department is engaged in one private finance initiative (PFI) project to provide office facilities at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge. The Environment Agency, which is a non-departmental body of DEFRA, has let two public/private partnership contracts for flood risk management.
	Information about the total value of annual PFI payments made by the core Department and the Environment Agency in the last five years is set out in the following table. These payments include both the repayment of the capital and expenditure on other parts of the PFI contract. Details of the breakdown of annual PFI payments into different elements is not held centrally and obtaining this information would incur disproportionate costs for the department.
	
		
			  Organisation  Project description  Year  Annual private finance initiative payments  ( million) 
			 Environment Agency Broadland Flood Alleviation Project 2002-03 1.90 
			   2003-04 1.69 
			   2004-05 1.52 
			   2005-06 1.41 
			   2006-07 (1)1.38 
			 Environment Agency Pevensey Bay Sea Defences 2002-03 1.43 
			   2003-04 1.81 
			   2004-05 1.87 
			   2005-06 1.91 
			   2006-07 (1)1.96 
			 DEFRA Office Facilities at Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge 2002-03  
			   2003-04  
			   2004-05 3.24 
			   2005-06 3.73 
			   2006-07 (1)3. 73 
			 (1) Estimate 
		
	
	The Department also provides support in the form of PFI credits to allow local authorities to enter into PFI contracts to provide waste recycling and management facilities. However, payments for these PFI projects are made by the relevant local authorities and do not fall within DEFRA's accounting boundary.

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people in his Department and its predecessor participated in  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The relevant figures for financial year 2006-07 are:
	 (a) 197 staff undertook voluntary exits;
	 (b) 22 staff left the department under involuntary arrangements.
	To provide data prior to financial year 2006-07 would incur disproportionate cost.

Departments: Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people in his Department and its predecessor who participated in  (a) involuntary and  (b) voluntary staff exit schemes in each year since 1997-98 were paid between (i) 0 to 25,000, (ii) 25,001 to 50,000, (iii) 50,001 to 75,000, (iv) 75,001 to 100,000 and (v) over 100,000; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: For financial year 2006-07, the relevant numbers were:
	
		
			  Staff exits from DEFRA during FY 2006-07 
			Number   Amount 
			  (a) involuntary 16 (i) 0 to 25,000 
			  (a) involuntary 5 (ii) 25,001 to 50,000 
			  (a) involuntary 1 (iii) 50,001 to 75,000 
			  
			  (b) voluntary 53 (i) 0 to 25,000 
			  (b) voluntary 37 (ii) 25,001 to 50,000 
			  (b) voluntary 40 (iii) 50,001 to 75,000 
			  (b) voluntary 28 (iv) 75,001 to 100,000 
			  (b) voluntary 39 (v) over 100,000 
			  Total 219   
		
	
	To provide relevant data prior to financial year 2006-07 would incur disproportionate cost.

Departments: Telephones Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many telephone helplines are sponsored by his Department with the prefix  (a) 0870 and  (b) 0845; and whether alternative geographic numbers are available in each case.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA sponsors only one telephone helpline number that has an 0870 prefix. This number is for the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) helpline, which provides advice on travelling with your pet into (or back into) the UK. There is not a published alternative geographic number for this service.
	DEFRA sponsors 14 telephone helpline numbers with an 0845 prefix. Only one of these, the DEFRA Helpline, has a published alternative geographic number.

Dogs: Animal Breeding

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department takes to ensure that pedigree dogs are fit before they are allowed to breed.

Ben Bradshaw: Anyone who is in the business of breeding and selling dogs requires a licence from the local authority under The Breeding of Dogs Act 1973 as amended by the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999. The local authority has discretion whether to grant a licence and must ensure that the animals will be suitably accommodated, fed, exercised and protected from disease and fire. It is for local authorities to enforce the requirements of the Act.
	In the interests of animal welfare, the 1999 Act provides that bitches are not mated until they are at least one year old and that they give birth to no more than six litters in a lifetime and no more than one litter per year. Furthermore, the Animal Welfare Act which became law on 6 April, places an additional responsibility on all those who own or keep animals to ensure that their welfare needs are met.

EC Law

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions in each of the last five years his Department was the subject of a case raised by the European Commission of infringement of European Law; to which directives such infringements were related in each year; and what fines the UK was required to pay in each case.

Barry Gardiner: Between 1 January 2003 and 18 May 2007, DEFRA was the lead Department for 94 infringement proceedings initiated by the European Commission.
	A member state can be infracted for a number of different reasons falling into the following categories:
	(i) late transposition;
	(ii) poor transposition; and
	(iii) implementation issues.
	A list of all infringements initiated by the European Commission against the UK can be found on the European Union website. The UK has never been fined.

Fair Trade Initiative

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the Fair Trade food initiative; what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on that initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 5 June 2007
	We strongly support the principles of Fair Trade and hold regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on food issues.

Farms

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many working farms ceased production in the last five years.

Barry Gardiner: The June Agricultural Survey does not specifically collect information about the number of farms that have ceased to trade. The following table shows the number of registered holdings in England in June 2002 and June 2006, as well as information on the numbers of farmers, partners and directors. These indicate net changes only and therefore reflect gains as well as losses.
	Direct comparison between these two years cannot be made, because of the number of holdings in this period which have registered for administrative purposes.
	
		
			   Total holdings  Farmers full-time  Farmers part-time 
			 2002 187,871 103,782 121,739 
			 2006 200,381 96,698 127,059 
			  Note: Farmers full and part-time includes farmers, partners, directors and spouses (if working on the holding).  Source: June Agricultural Survey

Fisheries: Licensing

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date all  (a) over 10 metre and  (b) under 10 metre fishing licences were issued in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: The following table provides details of the latest dates by which all over 10 metre and 10 metre and under fishing vessel licences were issued to licence holders or vessel owners since 1997. Since 1997, fishing licences for 10 metre and under vessels have been issued biennially. Fishing licences for over 10 metre vessels were issued annually until 2006 when it was decided to extend the validity period. Starting in March 2007 they are being issued biennially in an effort to reduce burdens on fishermen and administrations.
	In 2002, licences for 10 metre and under vessels were initially issued with a validity of two years, but were replaced in March 2004 with the introduction of the restrictive shellfish licensing scheme.
	
		
			   Under 10 metre  Over 10 metre 
			 1997  31 December 1997 
			 1998 30 June 1998 (for two year period) 31 December 1998 
			 1999  31 December 1999 
			 2000 30 June 2000 (for two year period) 31 December 2000 
			 2001  31 December 2001 
			 2002 30 June 2002 (for two year period initially but later reduced to 21 month period) 31 December 2002 
			 2003  31 December 2003 
			 2004 31 March 2004 (for 27 month period) 31 December 2004 
			 2005  31 December 2005 
			 2006 30 June 2006 (for two year period) 31 December 2006 (for 15 month period) 
			 2007  31 March 2007 (for two year period)

Fisheries: Protection

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the Fishery Protection Squadron; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: In December 2006, I agreed to the continuation of the Royal Navy Fishery Protection service for five years from 1 April 2008.
	The Royal Navy Fishery Protection Squadron undertakes monitoring, control and inspection activities at sea under an agreement with the Marine and Fisheries Agency. The current agreement expires on 31 March 2008. The detailed terms of a new agreement, to apply from 1 April 2008, will be discussed between officials from the Marine and Fisheries Agency, the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy during the course of this year.

Fisheries: Territorial Waters

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many  (a) skippers and  (b) vessel owners were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted for violating fisheries rules in UK territorial waters in each year since 1997, broken down by (A) country and (B) offence; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested in relation to activity undertaken by this Department and the Marine and Fisheries Agency in respect of England and Wales is set out in the table placed in the House Library. The information relates to offences detected at sea by RN fisheries patrol vessels and by aerial surveillance.

Food Supply

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance the Government have issued to retailers in the UK aimed at increasing food security.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 4 June 2007
	The Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CRNI) (formerly the Security Services) is the Government authority that provides protective security advice to businesses and organisations. The CPNI have had a number of meetings with food retailers to advise on the protection of food supplies, which DEFRA has attended. Protective security has also been discussed at several DEFRA Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG) meetings, which a cross-section of stakeholders from the food industry regularly attends.
	The major food retailers have robust and resilient business continuity plans to deal with any threat of disruption. DEFRA works closely with all parts of the industry to ensure that appropriate support is available in order to maintain supply to any part of the food chain.
	In December 2006, my Department published Food Security and the UK: An Evidence and Analysis Paper, a wide-ranging study on food security. This is available on the DEFRA website.

Ivory: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will support the proposal by Kenya and Mali to introduce a 20-year moratorium on the ivory trade at the forthcoming meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: While I appreciate the reasons given for the proposed 20 year moratorium, I do not agree with the principle. Such a position would be against the tenet of the Convention that decisions are taken on the basis of the best scientific and trade data available at the time. In practice, no worthwhile purpose would be served, as a moratorium could be reconsidered and reversed at any subsequent Conference of Parties.

Ivory: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will oppose attempts to allow further trade in elephant ivory at the forthcoming meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Barry Gardiner: We will consider all the information available to us at the CITES Standing Committee meeting on 2 June. We will only support a decision to allow the one-off sales of stockpiled ivory, previously agreed in 2002, to go ahead if all criteria are fully met. This includes (a) the approval of trading partners, considered to have sufficient legislation and internal controls in place, and (b) the establishment of baseline data on elephant population numbers and poaching levels through the monitoring of illegal killing of elephants (MIKE) programme.
	The UK will not support any further proposals for ivory trade until the impact of the stockpile sales, should they go ahead, has been assessed.

Ivory: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will urge that Japan's status as a trading partner for ivory stockpiles be rescinded at the Standing Committee meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in June; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The CITES Secretariat has carried out several visits to Japan to ascertain its suitability as a recipient of stockpiled ivory to ensure that adequate controls are in place to avoid the ivory being re-exported.
	At the 54th Standing Committee meeting in October 2006, the Secretariat considered that Japan fulfilled the conditions to become a trading partner. However, based on concerns felt by several countries, including the UK, it was agreed that the CITES Secretariat would provide an update on the measures Japan has and is putting in place. This will be reviewed at the 55th Committee meeting immediately prior to the Conference of the Parties in June.
	The UK will consider that update carefully, and will only support trading nation status if we are sure that the necessary conditions have and continue to be met.

Ivory: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans his Department has to support elephant conservation outside the work of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Barry Gardiner: There is already much good work being done on elephant conservation outside of CITES and I fully support this. In particular, the UK Government are key contributors to the work of the IUCN (World Conservation Union) African Elephant Specialist Group. Attention often focuses on the ivory trade issue, which CITES is responsible for monitoring. However, there are broader issues that also need to be taken forward at a continent-wide level to address the range of threats to elephants, including habitat fragmentation and human/elephant conflict in Africa and Asia. The UK continues to take an interest in how the range of states tackle these issues.

Landfill: Greater London

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Stewartby (L Field), Bedford landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(2)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Rainham landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(3)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Pitsea, Essex landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(4)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Mucking landfill, Thurrock landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(5)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Calvert Pit No. 4 Bucks landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(6)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Brookhurstwood Warnham, West Sussex landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(7)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at  (a) Brogborough landfill in 2003 and  (b) Brogborough extension, Bedford landfill site in 2005;
	(8)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Arlesley, Bedfordshire landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005;
	(9)  how much waste from local authority areas within Greater London was disposed of at Appleford, Oxfordshire landfill site in  (a) 2003 and  (b) 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: The Environment Agency holds records of waste arising from the Greater London area disposed of at the landfill sites in question. Their data for the years requested are based on operator waste returns and are shown in the following table in tonnes:
	
		
			  Landfill Site  2003  2005 
			 Stewartby 428,459 106,308 
			 Rainham 792,266 1,510,191 
			 Pitsea 867,720 1,304,114 
			 Mucking 655,928 714,043 
			 Calvert Pit No. 4 834,594 843,259 
			 Brookhurstwood 360,000 259,490 
			 Brogborough 1,876,880 2,245,817 
			 Arlesley 177,814 173,839 
			 Appleford 273,142 523,477

Nature Conservation: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on protecting endangered species from trade in relation to the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in June; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The UK believes that CITES is one of the most important and influential conservation-focused Multilateral Environmental Agreements. We will continue to support its development to improve its influence and effectiveness in respect of species at threat, or likely to be at threat, from trade; particularly with a view to only supporting such trade where it can be shown that it will have no negative impact on the conservation of the species concerned in the wild.
	On species listing proposals, parties consider the conservation status of the species concerned and whether it meets the listing criteria developed by CITES. Parties also take account of the contribution that CITES controls can make towards improvement of the conservation status, while acknowledging the efforts of those countries that have implemented effective conservation measures.

Nature Conservation: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will fund a workshop on the internet trade in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species specimens in the event that the proposal on internet trade is agreed at the forthcoming convention on international trade in endangered species meeting in June.

Barry Gardiner: The UK was instrumental in tabling the proposal for a CITES workshop on the internet trade in endangered species. This and other work programme proposals will be considered at the June Conference of Parties, along with funding issues. A costed work programme has been tabled by the CITES Secretariat that will establish how individual projects should be funded. Until the outcome of those discussions are known, parties, including the UK, are not in a position to say which elements of any programme they will support and how. Nevertheless, the UK, having put forward the proposal for the internet workshop, will do what it can to ensure that this takes place.

Nature Conservation: Trade

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will seek to amend the proposal on livelihoods at the forthcoming meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in June to reflect more closely the positive impact that CITES enforcement has on livelihoods.

Barry Gardiner: We are not currently seeking to amend this proposal. However, if, during the meeting, it becomes clear that the proposal can be improved, made more accurate or clear about the role and impact of CITES trade on livelihoods, then we will look to participate constructively in any discussions.

Pest Control

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence his Department has obtained from other countries on the long distance transport of diabrotica virgifera into new geographical areas.

Barry Gardiner: Diabrotica virgifera is native to North America. The pest was first found in Serbia in 1992, and has since spread both within Eastern Europe and the EU. A scientific paper by researchers in France, Multiple transatlantic introductions of the western corn rootworm,(1) was published in 2005. This suggested that there have been at least three separate introductions of D. virgifera from North America.
	(1) Reference: Miller, N., Estoup, A., Toepfer, S., Bourget, D., Lapchin, L, Derridj, S., Kirn, K.S., Reynaud, P., Furlan, L. and Guillemaud, T. (2005). Science. 310:992.).

Pest Control

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether his Department has carried out an investigation into the origins of the two wild populations of diabrotica virgifera found in the wild in south east England;
	(2)  whether his Department has carried out DNA profiling of the two populations of diabrotica virgifera found in the wild in south east England in order to assist with investigations about their origins.

Barry Gardiner: Investigations into the origins of the populations of diabrotica virgifera found in the southeast of England are very difficult because the means by which D. virgifera was introduced are unclear. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest that D. virgifera is spread by aircraft. However, to date no studies have been carried out on the presence of potentially invasive insects on aircraft.
	A study is currently being conducted to investigate whether the populations of D. virgifera found in south east England are related to populations of D. virgifera in eastern Europe and the USA. The results are due to be published later this year. However, these types of studies cannot specifically pinpoint the origin of an introduced species, and at best the results will demonstrate whether the populations of D. virgifera in south east England are more likely to be related to those from eastern Europe, the USA or both.

Sheep: Imports

Gwyn Prosser: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 763W, on sheep imports, how many of the lambs imported in the period November 2006 to February 2007 were imported for  (a) slaughter,  (b) fattening and  (c) breeding.

Barry Gardiner: The TRACES (TRAde Control and Expert System) database is not currently functional, but I will write to my hon. Friend when information becomes available.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost is of a visit to an accident and emergency department in England.

Andy Burnham: In 2005-06, the average reported cost of an attendance to an accident and emergency (AE) Department in England was 86. This is the most recent year for which costs are available and covers the cost of services provided by 24-hour and non-24 hour AE departments in the national health services.

Ambulance Services

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what care can be provided by an ambulance paramedic that cannot be provided by an ambulance technician.

Andy Burnham: An emergency medical technician (EMT) will have a sound knowledge of the basic concepts of patient care, having completed a training programme, worked under supervision for a probationary year, and achieved the national EMT award.
	EMTs are able to make a provisional diagnosis, use their knowledge and skills to identify and differentiate between life-threatening and non-life threatening conditions, and be able to interpret and record baseline observations and gain a basic individual, familial and social history of a patient during an assessment of the patient's needs. From this they can determine the extent of patients' illness or injury and initiate treatment, based on the principles of the current national clinical guidelines, in an attempt to stabilise the condition. This will include the use of, amongst other things, airway adjuncts, defibrillation, basic analgesic and oxygen therapies, and administration of a number of medicines.
	The precise difference in care that can be provided by a paramedic compared to an EMT will vary between national health service ambulance trusts as it will depend on the patient group directives in use by each trust for paramedics, and any additional training that the employer may have given their paramedics or EMTs over and above the national qualifications. However the core differences between the two roles are that:
	paramedics are registered health professionals and are therefore required to maintain a portfolio of continual professional development;
	paramedics can conduct a more thorough and detailed physical examination of the patient;
	paramedics undertake invasive procedures and are able to give intra-muscular and sub-cutaneous injections, and external jugular vein cannulation; and
	paramedics are able to practice in accordance with current legislation governing the use of prescription-only medicines and controlled drugs by paramedics.
	Paramedic skills, over and above those also possessed by EMTs, are only used in a minority of cases.
	Further information on the standards of proficiency required of paramedics can be obtained from The Health Professions Council's Standards of Proficiency for Paramedics which is available at:
	www.hpc-uk.org/publications/standards/index.asp?id=48
	In addition, the British Paramedic Association's Curriculum Framework for Ambulance Education provides details of EMT and paramedic education. This is available at:
	www.britishparamedic.org/curriculum-framework/

Carers: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much carer's grant was allocated to Warrington borough council in each year since it was introduced; and how much of the grant was spent on services for carers.

Ivan Lewis: The grant allocations paid to Warrington borough council as their share of the carers grant since 1999 are in the following table.
	
		
			  Carers grant Warrington 1999-2007 
			million 
			 1999-2000 0.65 
			 2000-01 0.157 
			 2001-02 0.218 
			 2002-03 0.264 
			 2003-04 0.335 
			 2004-05 0.418 
			 2005-06 0.619 
			 2006-07 0.605 
			 2007-08 0.603 
		
	
	The grant is no longer ringfenced and the Department does not collect data about how much each council spends supporting carers. However, councils do have a duty to support carers and they should be taking their needs into account when planning and commissioning all services.

Cerebral Palsy: Stem Cells

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatments using  (a) embryonic stem cells and  (b) stem cells from umbilical cords are available in the United Kingdom to children with cerebral palsy.

Caroline Flint: Such treatments are not currently available in the national health service. The United Kingdom Government are, however, committed to providing the best possible support for stem cell research and other experimental avenues of biomedical research that may, in the future, benefit patients suffering from a range of diseases.

Cervical Cancer: Vaccination

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received on  (a) cervical cancer and  (b) the new vaccine for human papilloma virus.

Rosie Winterton: In the last year the Department has received 25 pieces of correspondence concerning cervical cancer, the majority of which concerned either cervical screening or the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, 35 parliamentary questions concerning cervical cancer and/or HPV and there has been one Early Day Motion concerning cervical cancer and HPV.
	Where appropriate these have been passed to the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening (ACCS) or the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) HPV vaccine sub-committee for consideration.
	The ACCS was formed to advise Ministers and the Department on the national health service cervical screening programme, to monitor the effectiveness of this screening programme and to advise on research concerned with its provision.
	The JCVI is an independent expert advisory committee first set up to advise the Secretaries of State for Health, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on matters relating to communicable diseases, preventable and potentially preventable through immunisation.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received on the  (a) nature,  (b) scope and  (c) quality of biomedical research into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received on the funding of biomedical research into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations her Department has received on the levels of biomedical research undertaken into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Caroline Flint: In the course of the last year the Department has received the report of the Group on Scientific Research into myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) convened by my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson), together with a number of letters from Members of Parliament on behalf of their constituents and from others concerned with chronic fatigue syndrome/ME research.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she  (a) is taking and  (b) plans to take to improve diagnostic waiting time targets for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Ivan Lewis: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 May 2007,  Official Report, columns 1497-98W.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent research she has  (a) initiated and  (b) evaluated on biomedical research into chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis; what plans she has for future research in this area; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: Over the last 10 years, the main part of the Department's total expenditure on health research has been devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. That devolved funding is supporting a body of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) research, including a number of projects where a research charity is the principal funder. Details are available on the national research register at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/research.
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government support biomedical research and is currently funding two trials into treatment options for CFS/ME and two epidemiological studies.
	In addition, the new National Institute for Health Research South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and Institute of Psychiatry Biomedical Research Centre, funded by the Department, will undertake research on CFS/ME.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Screening

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS  (a) has approved and  (b) is developing any test that can diagnose myalgic encephalomyelitis in individuals; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: At present, there is no specific test for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME). Diagnosis is dependent on the recognition of the type and pattern of symptoms and tests to rule out other illnesses and conditions that can cause some or all of the symptoms experienced by the patient.
	In 2004, the Department asked the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce a clinical guideline on the diagnosis and management of CFS/ME. The guideline, which NICE expects to publish in August 2007, will include recommendations on the process of assessment leading to diagnosis and will include guidance on clinical case definition, appropriate timing for diagnosis and the use of laboratory, imaging or other tests.

Cost Shunting

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Falmouth and Camborne (Julia Goldsworthy) of 24 April 2007,  Official Report, column 777, on cost shunting, whether she plans to discuss the opportunities afforded by local government reform with her Cabinet colleagues in  (a) the Department for Communities and Local Government,  (b) the Cabinet Office and  (c) other departments.

Rosie Winterton: The Department, like all Government Departments with an interest in local government issues, will continue to work together to develop and implement the vision for local government set out in the White Paper Strong and Prosperous Communities that was published on 26 October 2006. The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill proposes to implement much of the White Paper. The Bill will enhance local leadership on health and well-being and make it easier for local authorities and national health service bodies to work together in delivering integrated health and social care services to citizens.

Dental Services

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department issues on the recommended period of time between dental check ups.

Rosie Winterton: All dentists with national health service primary care contracts are required to provide services in accordance with relevant guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), including NICE'S clinical guideline on recall intervals between routine dental examinations. NICE recommends that this recall interval should be determined specifically for each individual patient and should be tailored to meet his or her needs, on the basis of an assessment of disease levels and risk of, or from, dental disease. The shortest recommended interval for a routine dental recall for patients is three months. The longest recommended interval is 12 months for patients under 18 years of age and 24 months for adult patients. The clinical guideline indicates that dentists should discuss the recommended recall interval with the patient and review it at the next oral health review.
	The Department's advice to patients, reflected on the Department's website and in the patient information leaflet NHS dentistry in England: information for patients, is that they should follow their dentist's advice on when to go back for regular check ups. The advice indicates that, if a patient's dental health is good, they may only have to go for a check up every two years.

Dental Services

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population in  (a) England and  (b) Milton Keynes has attended a dental surgery in the last two years.

Rosie Winterton: Information on numbers of patients who have received care or treatment from a national health service dentist in the last two years and the percentage of the population this represents is published regularly. The latest available information is for the two years ending 31 December 2006. This information is contained in section F2 of annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Q3:31 December 2006 report which is available in the Library.
	This report, published by The Information Centre for health and social care, is also available online at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-statistics-for-england-q3:-31-december-2006

Dental Services

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the value is of each unit of dental activity in each primary care trust in England.

Rosie Winterton: Data collected by the Department centrally does not identify the value of units of dental activity (UDAs) or provide a basis for comparisons of UDA values between primary care trusts (PCTs). PCTs set contract values and service level requirements locally. UDA values will vary because of a number of factors, including differences in treatment patterns and treatment needs in different areas, the contract values negotiated locally by PCTs and dental practices, and the degree to which PCTs and practices may have agreed service outputs that cannot be measured through patient courses of treatment.

Dental Services: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS funding went to providing dentistry provision in Shrewsbury and Telford constituencies in  (a) 2004,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2006.

Rosie Winterton: Primary care trusts (PCTs) assumed full responsibility for local commissioning of primary care dentistry and received devolved budgets with effect from 1 April 2006. A table listing the primary dental service resource allocations for 2006-07 for all PCTs in England as at 31 July 2006 is available in the Library. PCTs determine the distribution of resources within their areas. A breakdown of the primary dental service resource allocations by constituency areas is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Full-year data on expenditure by PCTs on primary dental care in 2006-07 are not yet available.
	Prior to April 2006, most primary dental services were provided under former general dental service (GDS) arrangements. These were demand-led services where the pattern of dental expenditure was largely determined by where dentists chose to practice, and how much national health service work they chose to undertake. PCTs were not given fixed GDS funding allocations. In a number of areas, personal dental service (PDS) pilots were also established, where some former GDS dental practices and some directly managed dental services converted to locally commissioned arrangements to test new ways of working and new forms of contract remuneration. PDS pilots were funded by PCTs from supplementary allocations issued by the Department.
	The following table shows the available data on expenditure on the former GDS and PDS services for the constituencies of Shrewsbury and Atcham and Telford for 2004-05 and 2005-06. The difference between gross and net expenditure is the contribution to costs from dental charges collected directly from patients.
	
		
			  Core GDS and PDS dental payments within Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency and Telford  constituency,  2004-05 and 2005-06( 1,)( )( 2,)( )( 3,)( )( 4,)( )( 5) 
			   million 
			   2004-05  2005-06 
			  Shrewsbury and Atcham   
			 Gross GDS 2.802 1.791 
			 Net GDS 2.047 1.415 
			 Gross PDS 0.412 2.430 
			 Net PDS 0.338 1.983 
			 Gross GDS and PDS 3.214 4.221 
			 Net GDS and PDS 2.386 3.398 
			
			  Telford   
			 Gross GDS 2.429 1.068 
			 Net GDS 1.913 1.050 
			 Gross PDS 0.976 3.292 
			 Net PDS 0.833 2.696 
			 Gross GDS and PDS 3.406 4.361 
			 Net GDS and PDS 2.746 3.746 
			 (1) Gross GDS payments include adult fees (including item of service and continuing care payments), child fees (including item of service and capitation payments), commitment payments, seniority payments, maternity/paternity/adoptive leave payments, long term sick leave payments, continuing professional development allowances including travel hours, reimbursement of business rates, vocational training grants and clinical audit payments. The following costs are excluded from this data: employer's superannuation costs, vocational trainee salaries and NI contribution costs, clinical audit convenors, clinical audit secretarial support costs and travel expenses, and costs associated with any salaried general dental practitioners and emergency dental services. (2) PDS payment data relate to baseline payments or the agreed regular monthly payments made to PDS practices. The data cannot identify the cost of any PDS services that are directly managed by local NHS trusts, such as certain dental access centres. (3) In the immediate aftermath of dental practices converting from GDS to PDS pilots, there can be a period of overlapping expenditure as time lags in submitting GDS treatment claims can mean that clearance of GDS arrears coincides with the start of regular PDS payments. (4) Payments to dental practices are assigned to areas on the basis of practice postcode data. The practices themselves may draw patients from a wider catchment area. (5) Net payments represent the balance of payments due after taking account of NHS dental charge income collected from patients by dental practices.  Source: NHS Information Centre

Dental Services: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists are working in Shrewsbury and Atcham; and how many there were in 2006.

Rosie Winterton: The numbers of national health service dentists in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency from 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006 are available in annex G of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006. Information is based on the old contractual arrangements. The report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/primary-care/dentistry/nhs-dental-activity-and-workforce-report-england-31-march-2006.
	Information on the dental work force under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, is published every quarter by The Information Centre for health and social care.
	These data are not comparable with the historical data prior to this date.
	The latest data available are in annex G (number of dentists), within Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England Quarter 3: 31 December 2006 report. Data are only available at SHA and PCT level. To provide these data at constituency level area would be at disproportionate cost. The report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/dental06q3/Quarterly%20Publication%20Q3%202006-7%20Annex%203.xls

Departmental Travel

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions  (a) she and  (b) Ministers in her Department have used (i) non-scheduled flights and (ii) helicopters within the UK on official business in the last 12 months; and what the (A) purpose and (B) estimated cost was of each such flight.

Rosie Winterton: The Secretary of State and Ministers in her Department have not used any unscheduled flights in the last 12 months.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State visited the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Charity on 30 October 2006 and took a short helicopter flight at the request of the Chief Executive of the Charity at no cost to the Department or the Air Ambulance Charity.
	The cost of our aircraft on that occasion was borne by the aviation contractor. It follows therefore that it was at no cost to either the Department, or the Air Ambulance Charity

Departmental Visits

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) destination and  (b) purpose was of each overseas visit outside the European Union undertaken by staff in her Department in the last two months.

Ivan Lewis: The destinations and numbers of staff travelling outside the European Union between March and May 2007 are shown in the following table. All staff were travelling for the purposes of Departmental business. All trips are taken in accordance with the guidelines set down in the civil service code, which states that civil servants must make sure public money and other resources are used properly and efficiently; and use resources only for the authorised public purposes for which they are provided.
	
		
			  Destination  Number of travellers 
			 Hong Kong 1 
			 Vancouver 2 
			 San Diego 1 
			 New York 6 
			 Singapore 1 
			 Muscat 1 
			 Moscow 1 
			 Tblisi 2 
			 Washington 6 
			 Philadelphia 1 
			 Seattle 1 
			 Los Angeles 2

Departments: Legal Costs

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by her Department on legal fees in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, departmental figures for the cost of external legal services procured by its own lawyers are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   
			   Net  VAT  Total 
			 2002-03 1,407,890.39 163,040.69 1,570,958.01 
			 2003-04 1,540,718.46 244,872.77 1,785,590.23 
			 2004-05 1,145,224.50 133,346.73 1,278,162.10 
			 2005-06 1,631,254.29 165,638.80 1,816,955.84 
			  Source: Department of Health Solicitors Unit

Departments: Manpower

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people without posts are employed in her Department.

Ivan Lewis: The Department currently has 47 people not in permanent posts but carrying out meaningful work across the organisation until a permanent post can be identified to which they are then deployed.

Departments: Telephone Services

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many telephone helplines are sponsored by her Department with the prefix  (a) 0870 and  (b) 0845; and whether alternative geographic numbers are available in each case.

Ivan Lewis: The Department's main public facing telephone inquiry service, the Customer Service Centre, has a geographic number (020 7210 4850). The Department also uses a Government wide switchboard service (020 27210 3000). There are individual switchboard services for the Department's main buildings and these have geographic telephone numbers.
	The Department's Executive Agencies, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Service (MHRA) and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) also have geographic numbers.
	The Department has a Healthy Start (formerly known as the Welfare Foods Helpline), a service operated under contract to provide assistance to nurseries and individuals with inquiries about welfare foods e.g. milk tokens. The numbers for members of the public are 0845 6076833/6076823. The numbers for commercial providers are 08707 203063/201688. These will be reviewed as part of the contract review in 2008.
	NHS Direct uses a 0845 number 0845 4647. There is no geographic alternative.
	The Department grant funds a wide range of voluntary and charitable organisations to provide services relating to health and healthy living. Some of these organisations include telephone helplines as part of their services. It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate cost, to identify individual projects with telephones services and whether geographic telephone numbers are used.

Diabetes: Screening

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people with diabetes who are unable to leave their home unaided have  (a) been offered screening for diabetic retinopathy and  (b) registered on a national screening programme;
	(2)  how many people with diabetes registered in a national screening programme for diabetic retinopathy are being screened annually;
	(3)  how many people with diabetes offered screening for diabetic retinopathy  (a) registered in national screening programmes and  (b) participated in a national screening programme in each year since 2003-04.

Rosie Winterton: The data are not held centrally on how many people with diabetes who are unable to leave their home unaided have been offered screening for diabetic retinopathy.
	The information in the following tables show the number of people with diabetes offered screening for diabetic retinopathy and the number of people receiving screening broken down by year.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Number of people with diabetes offered screening for diabetic retinopathy 
			 2003-04 835,900 
			 2004-05 1,076,400 
			 2005-06 1,478,223 
			 2006-07 1,593,644 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 
			   Number of people with diabetes receiving screening for diabetic retinopathy( 1) 
			 2003-04 (2)753,997 
			 2004-05 1,076,388 
			 2005-06 1,232,043 
			 2006-07 1,256,463 
			 (1) Data from Local Delivery Plans returns (2) Data for year 2003-04 was an incomplete return

Disabled: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in  (a) Milton Keynes and  (b) England were registered as having a temporary disability which leads to reduced mobility in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: This information is not held centrally.

Eating Disorders: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children between the ages of 10 and 18 years were treated for  (a) bulimia and  (b) anorexia in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not collected in the format requested. Information is available from 1996-97 onwards about the number of finished consultant episodes where the primary diagnosis was anorexia or bulimia.
	We take the issue of eating disorders, especially among young people, very seriously. This is why the Department asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce a clinical guideline on the core interventions in the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders, and which NICE published in 2004. The guideline covers physical and psychological treatments, treatment with medicines, and information specifically for patients, carers and the general public. The guideline is due for review in January 2008.
	Count of finished consultant episodes where there was a primary diagnosis of anorexia or bulimia; 1996-97 to 2005-06.
	
		
			  NHS Hospitals, England 
			   Anorexia  Bulimia 
			 2005-06 620 23 
			 2004-05 517 23 
			 2003-04 532 22 
			 2002-03 552 32 
			 2001-02 497 26 
			 2000-01 469 19 
			 1999-2000 482 28 
			 1998-99 465 24 
			 1997-98 484 46 
			 1996-97 419 49 
			  Notes: A finished consultant episode is a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures represent the number of treatment episodes provided, but do not represent the individual number of patients seen, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.

Eating Disorders: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many  (a) hospitals,  (b) clinics,  (c) health centres and  (d) other care providers within the NHS specialise in the treatment of children suffering from eating disorders;
	(2)  how many cases of children being admitted to hospital for illnesses or conditions relating to eating disorders were as a result of intervention from  (a) a teacher,  (b) a parent and  (c) a health worker in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	We take the issue of eating disorders, especially among young people, very seriously. This is why the Department asked the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to produce a clinical guideline on the core interventions in the treatment and management of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders, and which NICE published in 2004. The guideline covers physical and psychological treatments, treatment with medicines, and information specifically for patients, carers and the public. The guideline is due for review in January 2008.
	In the five years to the end of March 2007, we have invested over 400 million of additional money into the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) provided by the national health service and local authorities. These funds have assisted in meeting and then maintaining the Department's public service agreement standard of a comprehensive CAMHS, including services for young people with an eating disorder. Further funds totalling over 100 million have been made available to the NHS and local authorities in 2007-08 to help maintain this progress.
	As primary care trusts (PCTs) consider local health needs and commissioned services, they will need to assess whether the right balance exists between in-patient care and home-based care, particularly at highly specialised levels, to help individuals with eating disorders. This means that PCTs will need to consider their commissioning role, where they work with local organisations and opportunities exist to commission services jointly, for example, where voluntary organisations can provide services more effectively than statutory services.
	Between 2004 and 2009, the Department is also funding a five-year initiative, Shift, to tackle the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health issues in England. Shift works with young people and professionals to promote awareness of all mental health problems, including eating disorders.
	The Department funds several voluntary sector organisations involved with eating disorders, including Weight Concern and Beat, formerly the Eating Disorder Association, for whom we are funding a three-year pathways to recovery project, which provides a support network of people who have had eating disorders.

Eyesight: Testing

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether children in full-time education being educated at home have the same rights to  (a) free NHS sight tests and  (b) vouchers to cover other costs of ophthalmology as children in full-time education being educated in institutions; what guidance she has issued to (i) opticians and (ii) local authorities to reflect these entitlements; and what evidence must be accepted as proof of a child being in full-time education at home.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 4 June 2007
	All children under the age of 16 are entitled to national health service sight tests and vouchers for optical appliances, as are children aged 16, 17 and 18 who are being educated full-time in a recognised educational establishment. The Department has not previously issued specific guidance on this subject. Where children aged 16 to 18 are being educated at home, the local primary care trust would need to seek advice from the local education authority to assess whether these arrangements are comparable to full-time education in such an establishment.

General Practitioners

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners per head of population there were in  (a) Stroud constituency,  (b) Gloucestershire,  (c) the South West and  (d) England in each year since 1997.

Andy Burnham: The number of general practitioners per 100,000 population from 1997-2006 is shown in the table for England and South West Strategic Health Authority and Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust (PCT) from 2001, the year PCTs were established, to 2006. Information is collected by primary care trust and it is not possible to map this to a specific constituency.
	
		
			  General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)( 1)  per 100,000 head of population, by specified organisations( 2) , 1997  to  2006 ,  England 
			  N umber ( H eadcount) 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  England   
			 GMPs(1) 28,046 28,251 28,467 28,593 28,802 29,202 30,358 31,523 32,738 33,091 
			 GMPs(1 )per 100,000 population 57.6 57.9 58.1 58.1 58.2 58.8 60.9 62.9 64.9 65.3 
			
			  South West   
			 GMPs(1) 3,014 3,071 3,096 3,129 3,159 3,225 3,361 3,620 3,809 3,807 
			 GMPs(1) per 100,000 population 62.4 63.3 63.4 63.6 63.8 64.9 67.2 71.8 75.1 75.0 
			
			  Gloucestershire  PCT   
			 GMPs(1) n/a n/a n/a n/a 348 352 367 412 429 399 
			 GMPs(1) per 100,000 population n/a n/a n/a n/a 61.6 62.2 64.6 71.9 74.6 69.4 
			 n/a = Data not available. (1) General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes GP Providers and GP Others. (2 )Organisations in the NHS were restructured in 2001 and 2006. The data above are based on SHA and PCT boundaries as at 1 October 2006. Data from 2001 to 2005 have been mapped to 2006 boundaries but this is not possible for data prior to 2001. This should be taken into consideration when making comparisons between 2006 and earlier years.  Notes: 1. Mid-year ONS 2006 population figures for PCTs are not yet available, therefore 2005 PCT figures have been used for 2006 organisation calculations; as a result these figures are subject to change. 2. Data as at 1 October 1997-99 and 30 September 2000-06.  Source s : The Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics. Mid-year Resident Population Estimates, Office for National Statistics. An A-Z list of the doctors in Gloucestershire can be found at: www.glosgoodhealth.org.uk/goodhealth/az_doctors.htm

General Practitioners

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department set up a  (a) working group,  (b) steering group and  (c) any other regular series of meetings on the new contract for the delivery of general medical services prior to June 2003.

Andy Burnham: The NHS Confederation had responsibility for leading negotiations on developing the contract for general medical services and in discussion with the British Medical Association's General Practitioners Committee agreed a process for managing discussions and negotiations for establishment of a new contract. As part of those arrangements, it was agreed that the Department would act as an observer to that process. However, regular update meetings were held between the NHS Confederation and the Department as part of that process. In addition, the Department also established internal mechanisms for considering and informing progress on the contract negotiations.

General Practitioners

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to renegotiate the contract for the delivery of general medical services agreed in June 2003.

Andy Burnham: The general medical services (and other primary medical care) contract is kept under constant review and is subject to ongoing discussions between NHS Employers and the British Medical Association's General Practitioners Committee.

General Practitioners

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date she met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss the renegotiation of the contract for the delivery of general medical services agreed in June 2003.

Andy Burnham: The general medical services (and other primary medical care) contract is kept under constant review and is subject to ongoing discussions between NHS Employers and the British Medical Association's General Practitioners Committee. As part of that process, discussions between Her Majesty's Treasury and the Department take place on a regular basis.

Health Professions: Insurance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to consult on her proposals to amend legislation to ensure that all practising health care professionals have compulsory indemnity cover.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's review The regulation of non-medical healthcare professions made reference to the fact that professional indemnity cover is becoming a condition of registration for all health care professions. The introduction of compulsory professional indemnity cover for a specific profession will require secondary legislation. A three-month public consultation will form part of any such legislative process. No timetable for this has yet been set.

Health Services: Age Discrimination

John MacDougall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to tackle age discrimination in the provision of health services; what targets she has set for this work; and what progress has been made towards such targets.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 Action to tackle age discrimination in access to health and social care has been a central aspect of the national service framework (NSF) for older people. The NSF for older people recognised that age discrimination in access to health and social care exists. It made the clear statement that age discrimination would not be tolerated and set out the developing actions to address this.
	The Healthcare Commission report, Living Well in Later Life, published in March 2006, found that explicit age discrimination had declined since the NSF was published, as a result of national health service trusts auditing policies on access to services and social services departments reviewing their eligibility criteria for social care services. In the first phase of the NSF for older people, there was a significant improvement in access to services, including a more than 100 per cent. rise in breast screening of the over-65s, increased hip replacements and cataract operations.
	In April 2006 the National Director for Older People, Professor Ian Philp, published the second phase of the NSF, A New Ambition for Old Age, encouraging the involvement of older people in service planning and also focusing on improving the integration of services and the promotion of healthy ageing. The report recognised that huge strides have been made in improving the health of older people. Death rates for heart disease, stroke and cancer among older people are down. Discrimination in treatment is now less likely. For example, heart surgery in the over 75s has risen from 2 per cent. to 10 per cent.
	On 27 January 2007, Ian Philp launched A Recipe for CareNot a Single Ingredient. This report sets out the challenge ahead in looking after older people and why services need to change to ensure older people get the best possible care.
	Departmental policy and guidance requires the assessment and provision of services to be undertaken based on need. We expect services to promote independence, choice and control as well as safety. We make it clear that all staff should treat older people with dignity and respect, whether it is in a hospital, care home or their own home.
	The Government are currently developing the Discrimination Law Review Green Paper, which will seek to address age discrimination in all public services.

Health Services: Private Sector

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what monitoring her Department has undertaken of the sale to Clinical Excellence of the five year licence granted to Nations Ltd. to build an independent sector treatment centre; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department cannot comment on negotiations between independent commercial entities.
	The Department has procedures in place to safeguard services, quality and patient safety if an independent sector provider is subject to change of control. All contractual terms still apply.
	The level of Departmental involvement depends on the specific contract. In general, for wave one contracts, any change of control requires Departmental consent only when there is a change in performance or termination security guarantee.
	For the independent sector extended choice network and phase two contracts, approval is required for any change of control.
	In addition, the Department provides guidance to providers setting out what information we require and the standards we expect from providers including clinical governance, management and staffing and service continuity.

Health Services: Young Offenders

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a national service framework is in place to guide the management and treatment of young, violent or sex offenders; and how many secure accommodation places for the management and treatment of young, violent or sex offenders there were in each year from 2000 to 2006.

Rosie Winterton: There is no national service framework (NSF) in place specifically to guide the management of young violent or young sex offenders.
	The Department issued Promoting Mental Health for Children held in Secure SettingsA Framework for Commissioning Services in March. The document is a strategic framework, targeted at commissioners and service providers, in order to ensure that children in secure settings have access to comprehensive child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
	The Department will support the framework with investment of 1.5 million this year. This will aid the implementation of tier three CAMHS within the HM Prison Service young persons' estate.
	Other relevant national policies and frameworks in place include the NSF for children, the NSF for mental health, and elements of the Every child matters: change for children programme. These should all be applied to children held in secure settings as they are for children in the wider community.
	The Department and the Ministry of Justice are jointly developing a national policy framework for the development of services for young people who have sexually abused. The framework will aim to use existing resources in a more coherent and consistent manner, as well as bring together the information on best practice and effective treatment interventions.
	Children and young people held in secure settings are treated according to their individual health needs, which can be complex and consist of more than one diagnosis. Placements are not broken down by offence. Information on the numbers of places for the management and treatment of young violent and/or young sex offenders across all types of secure settings is therefore not available. Referrals to mental health in-reach services or for other specialist services should be made on the basis of individual need, and the arrangements for providing these services will vary from establishment to establishment.

Health: Research

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the Cooksey review's recommendation for a review of  (a) the impact of diseases and illnesses in the UK on the population and economy and  (b) the health priorities of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research.

Caroline Flint: The Department has initiated a scoping study of the burden of disease that will inform any future work on United Kingdom health priorities. The Cooksey Review has recommended that when the UK's health priorities have been determined, the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research should use this information to establish health research priorities for the UK.

Heart Diseases

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has to conduct a cardiac stock-take to review capacity across the NHS; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Ten strategic health authorities across London and the south east conducted a stock-take of capacity for that area in 2005-06. This work was supported by the Department's vascular programme. The same methods employed for the stock-take have been used to review capacity in some other parts of the country in relation to specific business cases. No formal national stock-take of capacity is planned at this stage, because the planning of capacity is a responsibility of local national health service organisations.

Heart Diseases: North West Region

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) patients were treated and  (b) fatalities occurred in the (i) coronary care units and (ii) stroke units at (A) the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, (B) Furness General Hospital and (C) Westmorland General Hospital in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 The information requested is not held centrally.

Hospital Beds

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) total number of beds and  (b) number of beds per 100,000 population (i) for England and (ii) for each strategic health authority was in each year since 2002-03.

Andy Burnham: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Average daily number of available beds by 100,000 head of population, strategic health authorities (SHA) in England, 2002-03 to 2005-06 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			   Total beds  Beds per 100,000 population  Total beds  Beds per 100,000 population  Total beds  Beds per 100,000 population  Total beds  Beds per 100,000 population 
			 England 197,931 399 198,433 398 195,376 390 189,816 376 
			  
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 9,053 413 9,096 410 8,859 396 8,331 368 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5,489 342 5,126 317 5,221 323 4,449 273 
			 Essex 5,333 329 5,503 338 5,202 318 5,182 315 
			 North West London 7,199 398 6,983 385 7,174 391 7,077 378 
			 North Central London 6,348 523 6,413 526 6,625 540 6,388 514 
			 North East London 6,392 418 6,261 409 6,380 417 6,237 404 
			 South East London 6,370 420 6,686 442 6,723 444 6,557 430 
			 South West London 4,694 359 5,030 384 4,925 373 4,795 359 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 7,704 553 7,638 549 7,517 538 7,437 529 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 5,200 454 5,225 456 5,070 441 4,979 432 
			 North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincs 5,522 338 5,476 334 5,492 332 5,428 327 
			 West Yorkshire 9,169 439 9,309 444 8,477 402 8,432 398 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 8,208 430 8,155 425 7,887 409 7,533 389 
			 Greater Manchester 11,226 445 11,331 448 10,951 431 10,735 421 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 10,129 431 10,236 435 10,172 431 9,875 418 
			 Thames Valley 6,258 297 6,413 304 6,399 302 6,205 290 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 6,246 349 6,197 345 6,373 354 5,879 325 
			 Kent and Medway 5,385 339 5,358 335 5,273 327 5,051 312 
			 Surrey and Sussex 9,225 360 9,780 380 9,150 355 8,816 340 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 8,941 411 8,696 397 8,651 392 8,647 389 
			 South West Peninsula 5,962 375 6,306 394 6,220 384 6,061 372 
			 Dorset and Somerset 5,847 488 5,043 418 4,950 408 4,816 396 
			 South Yorkshire 6,385 503 6,332 498 6,453 505 6,366 495 
			 Trent 9,288 350 9,782 366 9,567 356 9,245 342 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 5,636 359 5,666 358 5,512 346 5,382 335 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 5,298 355 5,361 358 5,143 343 4,934 328 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country 10,258 451 10,129 446 9,901 435 9,876 432 
			 West Midlands South 5,167 336 4,903 316 5,109 328 5,102 324 
			  Note: Population data are mid-year population estimates based on the 2001 census. Beds totals include beds in wards open overnight, day only beds and residential care beds.  Source: Department of Health form KH03 and ONS Population Estimates Unit

Hospital Funding

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding is allocated to hospitals in addition to primary care trust contracted operations; and for what purposes.

Andy Burnham: Revenue allocations are made directly to primary care trusts (PCTs), not hospitals. Once revenue allocations have been made, it is for PCTs to commission services based on the needs of their local populations.
	National health service trusts may also receive additional payments from the centrally managed NHS budgets (formerly the Central Funded Initiatives Services and Special Allocations (CFISSA)). Details of these payments are available in the Library.

Hospitals: Fees and Charges

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she has taken to reduce the cost of  (a) telephone,  (b) television and  (c) car park services in hospitals for patients requiring long term care;
	(2)  what the average price of the use of  (a) the telephone and  (b) televisions for patients in hospitals in the north-east was in each of the last 10 years.

Andy Burnham: Each provider of the bedside telephone and television service set their own charges subject to the limited concession requirements set by the Department. The Department is not in a position to dictate ongoing price policies of private companies who take sole financial liability for their operations.
	Following the conclusion of an Office of Communications (Ofcom) investigation, in January 2006, the Department set up a review group to explore how the bedside services could be provided without charging as high a price for the incoming calls. The review group concluded that there was no easy quick- fix solution to this issue.
	The fixed price of the outgoing call cost up to April 2007 was 10p per minute (minimum 20p).
	The incoming call charges have remained constant for two of the service providers at 39p per minute off peak and 49p per minute peak. Charges per minute for the third service provider were; 14p in 2002, 17p in 2003, 20p in 2004 and it currently charges 35p.
	The average charge for use of the television since 2001 is 3.50 for two of the service providers and 3.00 for the third, for a 24-hour period. Some of the service providers offer a reduced rate television service for long stay patients.
	The largest provider of the systems recently reconfigured its charging structure, which resulted in increasing its outgoing call charge to 26p per minute (minimum 40p) and reducing its television package to 2.90 for a 24-hour period.
	It is for individual national health service bodies to set the level of charges for car parking provided on their premises, taking into account local circumstances. The Department of Health has issued guidance which recommends considering concessions for certain types of patient, but final decisions lie with the NHS body.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has for mandatory prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Not all healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) can be prevented but reducing HCAIs, including methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and  Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile) infections is one of four top priorities for the national health service.
	The Health Act 2006: Code of practice for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections came into force on 1 October 2006 and already requires NHS bodies to have appropriate management and clinical governance systems in place to deliver effective infection control. Compliance with the code is assessed by the Healthcare Commission (HCC) and the HCC has the power to issue an improvement notice to an NHS body that in its view, is not properly observing the code.
	In addition to a national target to halve MRSA bacteraemias (blood stream infections) by April 2008, local targets have been introduced to significantly reduce cases of  C. difficile since 1 April 2007. We are planning to consult on amendment regulations on how to apply the provisions of the code to the independent health and adult social care sectors later this year.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what definition her Department uses of healthcare-associated infections; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: No single definition is used for all circumstances but in general healthcare associated infections are infections that are acquired by patients following admission to hospital or as a result of healthcare interventions in other healthcare facilities.
	Healthcare workers are also at risk of acquiring some types of infection as a result of caring for patients.
	More specific definitions may be used, for example in surveillance systems or in legislation. The definition from the Health Act 2006 is given as follows:
	(8) In this section health care associated infection means any infection to which an individual may be exposed or made susceptible (or more susceptible) in circumstances where
	(a) health care is being, or has been, provided to that or any other individual, and
	(b) the risk of exposure to the infection, or of susceptibility (or increased susceptibility) to it, is directly or indirectly attributable to the provision of the health care.

Hospitals: Parking

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) NHS Trusts and  (b) hospitals have acted on her Department's recommendations to provide free or reduced price parking for patients requiring regular treatment.

Andy Burnham: Under income generation rules it is for each individual national health service body to manage any car parking scheme on its premises, including what charges to impose and what concessions to offer, taking into consideration all of the relevant local factors. Income Generation: Car Parking ChargesBest Practice for Implementation, issued in December 2006, is intended to provide advice and support in carrying out that function. While we would expect NHS bodies to consider and take account of the recommendations set out in the document, they are not obliged to adhere to them unconditionally.
	The Estates Related Information Collection database monitors some transport and car parking related activities. However, it does not monitor implementation of any of the recommendations in this best practice document. It is therefore not possible to provide the information requested.

Macular Degeneration

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatment is available on the NHS for wet macular eye degeneration.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 All primary care trusts (PCTs) are funding photodynamic therapy treatment for patients with both the wholly classic and predominantly classic forms of wet age-related macular degeneration, in line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
	NICE is currently carrying out an appraisal of Lucentis and Macugen, which are now both licensed for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration, and final guidance is due to be published in September 2007.
	Where guidance from NICE is not yet available, PCTs are expected to apply local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies. These arrangements should include an assessment of the available evidence.

Macular Degeneration: Surgery

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the use of new surgical procedures in the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  if she will bring forward proposals to extend the use of telescopic eye implants in the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  when she expects the use of telescopic eye implants for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration to be made available on the NHS; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Department is aware of the development of telescopic eye implants and the trials of these devices that are under way. The Department has not itself made an assessment of these devices.
	The Department issued revised guidance on managing the introduction of new healthcare interventions in December 2006. This advises national health service organisations that where National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance does not exist NHS bodies should continue with local arrangements for introducing new technologies, based on an assessment of the available evidence. The guidance identifies potential sources of information to help PCTs make these assessments.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the spending per head of population is on mental health in each local health district in 2007-08; how much was spent in each of the last five years; and what indices are used to guide future spending plans.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 4 June 2007
	Information about the spending per head of population on mental health in each local district in 2007-08 is not available. Details of total planned investment, and of overall investment per head, in each strategic health authority (SHA) from 2003-04 to 2005-06 is shown in the following tables. Data are not available prior to 2003-04, and data for 2006-07 have not yet been published.
	Primary care trusts (PCTs), together with their SHAs and other local stakeholders, should determine their future spending plans from their own allocated funds when commissioning services to meet the mental heath and other healthcare needs of their local populations. Funding allocations for mental health are included in the needs element of the weighted-capitation formula, the needs adjustment part of which was examined in a major review of the formula prior to the 2003-04 to 2005-06 revenue allocations to PCTs.
	The review was overseen by the Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation, and the results were published in the Allocation of Resources to English Areas report. A copy of the report is available in the Library.
	
		
			  Table  1 : SHA total planned investment and investment per head of weighted working age adult population in England 2005-06 
			  SHA  Total investment (000)  Overall investment per head () 
			 North Central London 234,380 207 
			 South East London 260,590 204 
			 South West London 166,496 185 
			 North West London 275,728 174 
			 Surrey and Sussex 212,414 173 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 192,256 168 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 184,947 166 
			 Dorset and Somerset 93,656 164 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 155,116 157 
			 Essex 134,130 155 
			 South West Peninsula 126,243 154 
			 West Yorkshire 224,289 154 
			 North East London 231,272 152 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 134,663 149 
			 West Midlands South 129,479 146 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 147,234 145 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 132,985 145 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 177,823 144 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 241,707 142 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 252,558 141 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 113,848 139 
			 North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 123,498 136 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 117,419 135 
			 South Yorkshire 118,112 134 
			 Thames Valley 156,705 134 
			 Trent 199,112 130 
			 Greater Manchester 252,233 128 
			 Kent and Medway 114,884 128 
			 Total investment and average investment per head 4,903,776 153 
			  Source:  Mental Health Strategies, 2005-06 National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services 
		
	
	
		
			  Table  2 : SHA total planned investment and investment per head of weighted working age adult population in England 2004-05 
			  SHA  Total investment (000)  Overall investment per head () 
			 North Central London 213,890 189 
			 South East London 237,073 186 
			 North West London 279,702 176 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 186,763 163 
			 South West London 145,856 162 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 169,551 152 
			 Surrey and Sussex 182,701 149 
			 Dorset and Somerset 83,813 147 
			 West Yorkshire 210,400 144 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 129,099 143 
			 Essex 121,542 140 
			 South West Peninsula 114,254 140 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 127,362 139 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 168,747 137 
			 West Midlands South 120,924 137 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 125,132 136 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 131,681 130 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 248,920 130 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 111,052 127 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 103,908 127 
			 North East London 193,999 127 
			 Trent 192,412 126 
			 Thames Valley 142,925 122 
			 Greater Manchester 213,158 122 
			 South Yorkshire 105,328 120 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 212,163 119 
			 North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 103,499 114 
			 Kent and Medway 98,006 109 
			 Total investment and average investment per head 4,473,860 140 
			  Source: Mental Health Strategies, 2004-05 National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services 
		
	
	
		
			  Table  3 : SHA total planned investment and investment per head of weighted working age adult population in England 2003-04 
			  SHA  Total investment (000)  Overall investment per head () 
			 South East London 217,402 170 
			 North West London 245,403 155 
			 South West London 138,815 154 
			 North Central London 170,792 151 
			 Essex 125,046 144 
			 Surrey and Sussex 178,506 140 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 152,490 133 
			 South West Peninsula 107,813 132 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire 142,268 127 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 114,758 127 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 115,988 126 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 124,717 123 
			 West Midlands South 108,531 123 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 113,134 120 
			 Somerset and Dorset 68,195 119 
			 Thames Valley 139,097 119 
			 West Yorkshire 170,642 117 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 141,391 115 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire 94,026 108 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country 192,721 108 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley 87,130 107 
			 Kent and Medway 94,945 106 
			 Greater Manchester 185,402 106 
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 203,623 106 
			 North East London 154,353 101 
			 South Yorkshire 87,210 99 
			 North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire 88,348 98 
			 Trent 147,746 97 
			 Total investment and average investment per head 3,910,506 122 
			  Source:  Mental Health Strategies, 2003-04 National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services

Mental Health: Cannabis

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital admissions on mental health grounds resulting from the use of cannabis there were in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: This information is shown in the following table. It corrects data about mental health-related hospital admissions resulting from cannabis use, given to the hon. Member in the written answer on 30 January 2006,  Official Report, column 176W. I have written to the hon. Member to explain the earlier error.
	
		
			  Finished admission episodes in the national health service in England 1996-97 to 2005-06, for patients with a primary diagnosis of a mental or behavioural disorder due to the use of cannabis: combined male and female; all ages; all strategic health authorities 
			   Cannabis 
			 1996-97 510 
			 1997-98 506 
			 1998-99 625 
			 1999-2000 600 
			 2000-01 581 
			 2001-02 674 
			 2002-03 704 
			 2003-04 890 
			 2004-05 869 
			 2005-06 946 
			  Note: A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. The primary diagnosis is the main reason why the patient was in hospital. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. The data refer to all patients with a primary diagnosis of a mental or behavioural disorder due to cannabis use and whose care was led by a consultant registered under any speciality.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.

Midwives

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will undertake a consultation on the change of status of insurance cover for independent midwives.

Rosie Winterton: The Department's review The regulation of non-medical healthcare professions made reference to the fact that professional indemnity cover is becoming a condition of registration for all professions. The introduction of compulsory professional indemnity cover for midwives will require secondary legislation. A three-month public consultation will form part of that legislative process. No date for this has yet been set.

Mothers: Home Help

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress her Department has made with providing nursing support to mothers of children under the age of two years as referred to in the report of the Spending Review 2004.

Ivan Lewis: Support from midwives, health visitors and other health professionals is provided to families through the Child Health Promotion Programme, the universal child health service aimed at preventing ill health and promoting health and well- being. The core service is set out in standard 1 of the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services. However, all families are different and some need more support than others. Health visitors and their teams who deliver the child health promotion programme will make sure that the most at risk children have more support.
	We are also testing an intensive nurse-led home visiting programme for the most at risk families. The Nurse Family Partnership Programme has been developed over 30 years in the United States where it has achieved impressive reductions in accidental and non-accidental injuries. We are testing this approach in 10 sites across England where specially trained health visitors and midwives are delivering the programme to first-time young parents.

NHS

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of her presentation to the Cabinet on the NHS of 19 April 2007, referred to by the Prime Minister in his speech to the Trimdon Labour Club of 20 April 2007.

Ivan Lewis: The Secretary of State for Health did not make a presentation to Cabinet on 19 April, she gave an oral update.
	A version of a previous presentation to Cabinet was made publicly available and a copy has been placed in the Library.

NHS Direct

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she last met the Chief Executive of NHS Direct NHS Trust to discuss the efficiency of the organisation.

Andy Burnham: Senior officials at the Department meet the Chief Executive of NHS Direct on a quarterly basis to discuss performance. I meet the Chair of NHS Direct on a quarterly basis.

NHS: Civil Proceedings

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent on litigation by the NHS in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department does not collect information centrally on individual national health service organisations expenditure on litigation, which should be recorded within their financial accounts. However, the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), records expenditure on claims made against any of the three clinical and two non-clinical negligence schemes. The NHSLA is responsible for this information, which they make available in Factsheet 2 on their website at:
	www.nhsla.com.
	The following table sets out the information for the past five years.
	
		
			  Payments made by NHSLA in respect of negligence claims against the NHS 
			  000 
			   2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 Clinical negligence scheme for trusts (CNST) (1)201,869 175,277 293,384 329,412 384,390 
			 Existing liabilities scheme 343,242 269,345 128,071 169,414 168,203 
			 Ex-regional health authorities scheme 3,832 1,562 1,059 4,068 7,716 
			 Total 548,943 446,184 422,514 502,894 560,309 
			  (1)119,000 
			 Liabilities to third parties scheme 3,112 14,480 7,395 21,280 26,692 
			 Property expenses scheme (PES) 1,931 6,866 2,735 3,839 4,586 
			 Total 5,043 21,346 10,130 25,119 31,278 
			 Grand total 553,986 467,530 432,644 528,013 591,587 
			  (1)119,000 
			 (1) 119,000 in 2001-02 reflects the amounts reimbursed to trusts as part of the call-in and included within CNST payments.  Note: Expenditure relates to paid and accrued but excludes reserves. 
		
	
	Until the call-in of CNST claims by NHSLA in April 2002, member organisations paid part of the cost of claims made under CNST. Excesses are still payable on the non-clinical schemes (LTPS and PES). The cost of these excesses, being carried by individual NHS organisations, is not included in the NHSLA's figures. As part of the call-in process it reimbursed the above-excess costs already incurred by member trusts on these claims. Thus the apparent bulges in these years do not reflect an increase in overall claims expenditure, but rather one-off reimbursements of expenditure already incurred (and accounted for) by member trusts.

NHS: Standards

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many separate bodies monitor, inspect or assess the NHS; and what co-operation there is between those bodies to prevent duplication of work.

Ivan Lewis: The Department does not hold such information centrally and it would be disproportionally expensive to gather the information.

Nurses

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she has taken to improve the terms and conditions of nurses working in the NHS; and what plans she has to further improve pay and conditions.

Rosie Winterton: New terms and conditions of service have been implemented for the majority of directly employed national health service staff including nurses, as part of the Agenda for Change pay reform programme. These include a number of substantial improvements for the majority of staff, including higher maximum pay rates, more scope for career progression and more annual leave. The starting pay of a newly qualified nurse has increased from 13,385 in 1997 to 19,645 from November 2007. This represents an increase of 59 per cent., 25 per cent. in real terms. The Government remain committed to the new pay system, which is continuing to benefit nurses among others alongside annual pay increases recommended by the Nurses and Other Health Professions Pay Review Body.

Nurses: Students

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the availability, subject to a means test, of grants for nursing students studying for  (a) a diploma course or  (b) a degree; and what comparison she has made of the difference in sums available.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 4 June 2007
	From 1 September 2006, diploma students who are entitled to a non-means tested bursary can receive a basic award up to 7,030 a year. Degree students who are entitled to a means tested bursary can receive a basic award up to 4,378 (based on a 45-week course) and they are also eligible to apply for a Department for Education and Skills student loan. From 1 September 2007, diploma students can receive a basic award of up to 7,443 and degree students (based on a 45-week course) can receive up to 4,715. The total amount of both the non-means-tested and means-tested bursaries can increase with additional allowances subject to individual circumstances. The provisions of the national health service bursary scheme are under consideration with stakeholders as part of the modernisation process.

Paediatrics: Princess Royal Hospital

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions she has had with the Shrewsbury and Telford NHS hospital trust on the proposed overnight closure of the paediatric unit at the Princess Royal hospital.

Caroline Flint: The Secretary of State for Health has had no discussion with the Shrewsbury and Telford national health service hospital trust on this subject.

Patient Groups

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice her Department has given to foundation trusts on the involvement of patient groups in trust board meetings; what representations she has had from patient groups on exclusion from trust board meetings; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The Department has issued guidance on developing and implementing governance arrangements in national health service foundation trusts which is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance.
	The legislative framework for foundation trusts gives them significant scope to tailor their governance arrangements to reflect their different status, the services they provide and the profile of their communities.
	While some representations have been made by organisations, including those representing patient groups, on the operation of board of director meetings in foundation trusts, the National Health Service Act 2006 only allows for foundation trusts to open meetings of the board of governors to the public. There is no equivalent provision for meetings of the board of directors. This would be a matter for each trust. Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS Foundation Trusts) has however issued a code of governance for foundation trusts which advises directors to follow a policy of openness and transparency in its proceedings and decision making unless this conflicts with a need to protect the wider interests of the public or the foundation trusts, including commercial-in-confidence matters.

Patients: Transport

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of whether hospitals have acted on her Department's guidance to inform patients of the hospital travel costs scheme.

Andy Burnham: The recent hospital travel costs scheme consultation included questions on awareness of the scheme. The results are being analysed and will be published in the near future.

Plagiocephaly

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will estimate the cost of providing STARband treatment free of charge to all children with deformational plagiocephaly;
	(2)  what her most recent estimate is of the number of children with deformational plagiocephaly;
	(3)  what treatments for children suffering with deformational plagiocephaly are available free of charge through the national health service; what the criteria are for the provision of such treatments; and what reasons STARband treatment is not so provided.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the number of cases of deformational (more commonly known as positional) plagiocephaly is not collected centrally. It is not, therefore possible to estimate the cost to the national health service of providing STARband treatment to every child who has this usually self-correcting condition. It is for doctors to decide whether to prescribe and for primary care trusts to decide whether to fund treatment with special helmets, such as STARband.

Prescriptions

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations she has received from  (a) members of the public and  (b) others on the practice of restricting repeat prescriptions to 28 days' length.

Caroline Flint: Since the beginning of the current parliamentary session, until 14 May 2007, the Department of Health had received 42 representations in the form of correspondence primarily on the issue of restricting the length of repeat prescriptions. This is not a definitive number as there may be correspondence on other subjects which also touch on this issue. However, the task of looking through all ministerial correspondence would result in disproportionate cost.

Prescriptions

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescription items were dispensed by the NHS in each year between 1997 and 2006; and what the total net cost of these items was in each year.

Caroline Flint: Information on the number and the net ingredient cost (NIC) of prescription items dispensed in the community, in England, is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Prescription items dispensed (Thousand)  NIC (000) 
			 1997 500,153 4,367,474 
			 1998 513,209 4,701,487 
			 1999 529,770 5,291,242 
			 2000 551,843 5,584,645 
			 2001 587,049 6,116,569 
			 2002 617,022 6,846,656 
			 2003 649,703 7,510,134 
			 2004 686,139 8,079,567 
			 2005 720,283 7,936,564 
			 2006 751,954 8,196,832 
			  Source:  Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) data from the Prescription Pricing Division of the NHS Business Services Authority 
		
	
	These figures do not include drugs dispensed in hospitals, including mental health trusts, or private prescriptions. Information on the gross cost of prescription items dispensed is not collected centrally.

Primary Care Trusts

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 24 April 2007,  Official Report, column 1052W, on primary care trusts, when the first draft of the  Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) notice was written; and when her Department's director of commissioning was made aware of the OJEU notice;
	(2)  what involvement Simon Stevens had in drafting  (a) the original  Official Journal of the European Union notice on primary care trust commissioning published on 29June 2006 and  (b) subsequent versions.

Andy Burnham: The notice was drafted in the weeks leading up to its submission to the  Official Journal of the European Union on 9 June. The Director General of the Commissioning Directorate was sighted on the notice before its submission.
	Simon Stevens had no involvement in drafting the notice.

Prisons: Drugs

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 15 March 2007,  Official Report, column 552W, on prisons: drugs, whether the funding announced for the Integrated Drug Treatment System will be ring-fenced.

Caroline Flint: The investment allocated by the Department for the Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) is not ring-fenced.
	The allocation contains specific amounts targeted to those primary care trusts which contain prisons implementing IDTS.

Race Equality

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) cost and  (b) content was of the training modules on race equality and cultural capability to which she refers in paragraph 5.268 of her Department's 2006 annual report; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The training packs on race equality and cultural capability were piloted within the national health service from August 2006 to April 2007. 65 practitioners, two administration staff, a number of service users and carers across four NHS trusts were involved in the pilot. The packs are currently being evaluated to determine how they will help people working predominantly in the NHS and social care towards the 12 service characteristics dealing with the challenges that are outlined in Delivering Race Equality (DRE). The evaluation will report in June 2007. The cost of the training is 240,000, which covers work to ensure the packs' independent development, testing, trialling and evaluation.
	Once the evaluation is complete, the Department plans to start full training with the training modules. The training will be targeted within the newly formed DRE clinical trailblazer network (pilot sites to test the clinically related service change characteristics of DRE). The network aims to take direct action to challenge disproportional admission rates, detention and treatment, and poor satisfaction rates associated with minority service users of mental health services.

Urology: Medical Treatments

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will set a timetable for implementing the recommendations following the recently ended consultation on the supply of urology products.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 30 April 2007
	Three consultations closed on 2 April 2007:
	Arrangements for the reimbursement pricing of stoma and incontinence appliances under Part IX of the Drug Tariff;
	Arrangements for the remuneration of services relating to appliances within Part IX of the Drug Tariff; and
	Proposed Amendments to the Regulatory Terms of Service of Pharmacy and Appliance Contractors in relation to Dispensing Items Listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.
	Due to the volume and complexity of the responses more time is needed to analyse the information provided. Consequently, no changes will be implemented in July 2007 as previously proposed.
	I do not anticipate that the review will be complete before the end of the year. I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement issued on 23 May 2007,  Official Report, column 78WS, about the timing of this review.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Central Office of Information: Contracts

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will name each contract that the Central Office of Information has with Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO; and what the value is of each such contract.

Hilary Armstrong: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO (AMV BBDO) is contracted by the Central Office of Information to work on Government business via a framework agreement. AMV BBDO has been awarded a project on citizen and public engagement (dealing with climate change issues) on behalf of DEFRA.
	This project is at an early stage, so the final level of advertising activity is still under discussion and therefore so is the final value of the contract.

Delivery Unit

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many joint reviews with other Government Departments the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit has carried out over the last 12 months.

Hilary Armstrong: Over the past 12 months the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit carried out 38 joint reviews with Government Departments.

Delivery Unit

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2006,  Official Report, columns 795-6W, on the Delivery Unit, what  (a) key barriers to improvement and  (b) action needed to strengthen delivery the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit has identified in providing performance management in key delivery areas.

Hilary Armstrong: Barriers to improvement vary from issue to issue. Examples of action needed to strengthen delivery identified by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit include improved delivery plans; clear targets, metrics and success criteria; and a shared understanding of purpose, roles and responsibilities.

Departments: Data Protection

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many times her Department was found to have been in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: Breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be dealt with by the Information Commissioner, the courts or by Departments at an informal local level. Thus, the information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Legal Costs

Grant Shapps: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much was spent by the Cabinet Office on legal fees in each of the last five years.

Hilary Armstrong: Expenditure on legal fees in the Department from 2002-03 to 2005-06 can be found in the following table.
	
		
			   000 
			 2002-03 331 
			 2003-04 62 
			 2004-05 85 
			 2005-06 1,740 
		
	
	The increase in costs in 2005-06 is due to expenditure incurred by the transformational government projects on legal costs.

Departments: Recruitment

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much her Department and its agencies paid to recruitment consultants in each year since 1997.

Hilary Armstrong: It is not possible to readily identify from the Department's accounting system, how much was paid to recruitment consultants in each year since 1997. This information is therefore only available at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Standards

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when she expects the remaining capability reviews to be published.

Hilary Armstrong: The next tranche of capability reviews will be published before the summer recess. The Departments being reviewed in this tranche are the Department for Transport, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Department of Health. The remaining Departments will be reviewed by the end of the year.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether her Delivery Unit has conducted any review in the last five years of the provision of out-of-hours care by general practitioners in the NHS.

Hilary Armstrong: PMDU's role is to monitor and report on delivery of the Prime Minister's top delivery and reform priorities. Out-of-hours care is not currently one of the areas on which PMDU's health team works.

Policy Review

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 797W, on the policy review, whether any other payments have been made to other external organisations as part of the policy review.

Hilary Armstrong: Apart from the payments noted in previous answers given by the Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Mr. McFadden), to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 26 January 2007,  Official Report, column 2127W, and to the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 8 February 2007,  Official Report, columns 1103-04W, the only significant payments to external organisations in connection with the policy reviews have been to typesetters and printers for the publication of the first five reviews (97,393).
	All typesetting and print contractors have been selected through competitive tender to ensure value for money.

JUSTICE

Drink Driving

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many convictions there were in each police authority in England and Wales for the offence of drink driving in each year since 2001; and how many resulted in  (a) a prison sentence,  (b) mandatory disqualification from driving and  (c) the maximum fine.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Available information taken from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, from 2001 to 2004 (latest available) is provided in the following tables.
	Data for 2005 will be available shortly; 2006 data will be available in 2008.
	
		
			  Table A: Total findings of guilt at all courts and resultant custody, maximum fine imposed and disqualifications, for the offence of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs(1), by police force area, England and Wales, 2001 
			Of which: 
			  Police force area  Total findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 2)  Maximum fine ()  Disqualified( 3) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,197 129 1,000 2,099 
			 Bedfordshire 914 79 600 857 
			 Cambridgeshire 813 51 2,200 742 
			 Cheshire 1,529 96 1,500 1,429 
			 Cleveland 887 77 2,500 824 
			 Cumbria 761 51 750 703 
			 Derbyshire 1,411 140 1,000 1,264 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,369 128 2,500 2,281 
			 Dorset 1,150 91 2,500 1,063 
			 Durham 1,097 86 4,000 1,029 
			 Essex 2,456 264 1,000 2,273 
			 Gloucestershire 865 39 1,050 813 
			 Greater Manchester 4,715 454 2,500 4,329 
			 Hampshire 3,464 235 1,250 3,297 
			 Hertfordshire 1,666 94 2,000 1,600 
			 Humberside 1,259 126 1,000 1,184 
			 Kent 2,575 165 2,500 2,424 
			 Lancashire 2,304 148 1,000 2,174 
			 Leicestershire 1,546 140 2,000 1,437 
			 Lincolnshire 877 60 1,125 836 
			 London, City of 162 10 1,440 156 
			 Merseyside 2,195 217 1,250 2,001 
			 Metropolitan Police 11,260 928 4,500 10,607 
			 Norfolk 1,143 75 3,750 1,065 
			 Northamptonshire 399 65 2,000 375 
			 Northumbria 2,529 217 4,000 2,297 
			 North Yorkshire 1,066 55 3,000 1,015 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,598 187 (4)5,000 1,504 
			 South Yorkshire 2,020 159 1,500 1,905 
			 Staffordshire 1,513 136 1,200 1,431 
			 Suffolk 920 43 1,800 854 
			 Surrey 1,592 65 1,500 1,549 
			 Sussex 2,358 128 1,500 2,250 
			 Thames Valley 3,275 210 2,000 3,137 
			 Warwickshire 880 33 2,000 846 
			 West Mercia 1,740 91 2,000 1,610 
			 West Midlands 4,914 471 2,000 4,475 
			 West Yorkshire 3,220 331 1,500 2,987 
			 Wiltshire 1,045 53 1,500 966 
			 Dyfed-Powys 867 36 1,200 811 
			 Gwent 1,152 76 1,500 1,051 
			 North Wales 1,227 87 1,000 1,153 
			 South Wales 2,812 295 1,200 2,574 
			 (1 )Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 ss. 4 (1)  (2); 5 (1) and (b); 6 (4) and 7 (6). (2) Immediate Custody = Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment. (3 )Disqualifications given as a secondary disposal. This covers cases where a disqualification from driving was given instead of a licence endorsement. This excludes cases where a defendant was disqualified under the penalty points or totting up system (s35 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988). S.35 R.T.O.A. data for specific offences at force area level are not sufficiently robust. (4) Statutory maximum fine (5,000) was issued once in Nottinghamshire police force area only. Note 1: Standard Rate maximum fine is Level 5 (5,000). Note 2: It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is underway to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system being implemented by the Ministry of Justice reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. Note 3: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Total findings of guilt at all courts and resultant custody, maximum fine imposed and disqualifications, for the offence of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1) , by police force area, England and Wales, 2002 
			Of which: 
			  Police force area  Total findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 2)  Maximum fine ()  Disqualified( 3) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,401 124 1,000 2,298 
			 Bedfordshire 955 82 750 899 
			 Cambridgeshire 852 41 1,500 782 
			 Cheshire 1,993 103 1,200 1,853 
			 Cleveland 921 71 2,500 831 
			 Cumbria 768 37 1,230 718 
			 Derbyshire 1,465 164 4,000 1,365 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,441 95 2,500 2,347 
			 Dorset 1,199 83 600 1,121 
			 Durham 1,136 68 3,000 1,075 
			 Essex 2,522 267 3,000 2,346 
			 Gloucestershire 926 44 2,300 852 
			 Greater Manchester 4,720 474 3,000 4,387 
			 Hampshire 3,846 243 3,000 3,654 
			 Hertfordshire 1,894 90 1,500 1,810 
			 Humberside 1,395 113 1,000 1,314 
			 Kent 2,745 152 2,000 2,582 
			 Lancashire 2,599 159 2,500 2,465 
			 Leicestershire 1,659 140 2,000 1,556 
			 Lincolnshire 847 56 800 810 
			 London, City of 221 12 1,440 209 
			 Merseyside 2,293 216 3,600 2,105 
			 Metropolitan Police 12,905 927 4,000 12,140 
			 Norfolk 1,220 55 2,000 1,179 
			 Northamptonshire 236 35 1,100 212 
			 Northumbria 2,588 188 2,500 2,373 
			 North Yorkshire 1,119 63 3,000 1,071 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,420 129 2,500 1,324 
			 South Yorkshire 1,945 165 3,000 1,819 
			 Staffordshire 1,704 143 2,000 1,592 
			 Suffolk 1,105 79 3,500 1,022 
			 Surrey 1,614 68 4,000 1,564 
			 Sussex 2,306 149 3,500 2,224 
			 Thames Valley 4,317 219 2,500 4,147 
			 Warwickshire 841 40 1,000 799 
			 West Mercia 1,719 93 2,000 1,623 
			 West Midlands 5,050 438 2,000 4,628 
			 West Yorkshire 3,564 268 2,000 3,276 
			 Wiltshire 1,005 54 1,200 938 
			 Dyfed-Powys 927 47 1,200 856 
			 Gwent 1,074 74 1,000 983 
			 North Wales 1,270 71 2,000 1,165 
			 South Wales 2,761 236 1,500 2,573 
			 (1) Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 ss. 4 (1) and (2); 5 (1) and (b); 6 (4) and 7 (6). (2) Immediate Custody = Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment. (3 )Disqualifications given as a secondary disposal. This covers cases where a disqualification from driving was given instead of a licence endorsement. This excludes cases where a defendant was disqualified under the penalty points or totting up system (s35 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988). S.35 R.T.O.A. data for specific offences at force area level are not sufficiently robust. Note 1: No police force area registered the statutory maximum fine (5,000). Note 2: Standard Rate maximum fine is Level 5 (5,000). Note 4: It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system being implemented by the Ministry of Justice reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. Note 3: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table C: Total findings of guilt at all courts and resultant custody, maximum fine imposed and disqualifications, for the offence of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs( 1) , by police force area, England and Wales, 2003 
			Of which: 
			  Police force area  Total findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 2)  Maximum fine ()  Disqualified( 3) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,666 167 3,000 2,577 
			 Bedfordshire 1,072 72 1,500 1,013 
			 Cambridgeshire 933 56 1,500 879 
			 Cheshire 1,905 110 1,000 1,784 
			 Cleveland 981 61 1,000 897 
			 Cumbria 843 37 1,000 781 
			 Derbyshire 1,617 168 1,000 1,508 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,667 121 1,300 2,570 
			 Dorset 1,264 73 2,000 1,201 
			 Durham 1,170 77 1,500 1,101 
			 Essex 2,622 311 2,000 2,400 
			 Gloucestershire 890 37 650 834 
			 Greater Manchester 4,743 437 (4)5,000 4,444 
			 Hampshire 3,663 234 2,500 3,513 
			 Hertfordshire 1,904 78 1,200 1,799 
			 Humberside 1,445 150 1,500 1,356 
			 Kent 2,811 179 4,000 1,456 
			 Lancashire 2,652 146 1,050 2,516 
			 Leicestershire 1,725 143 3,000 1,618 
			 Lincolnshire 1,111 42 1,000 1,064 
			 London, City of 230 4 1,500 223 
			 Merseyside 2,687 215 2,500 2,475 
			 Metropolitan Police 12,621 922 (4)5,000 11,910 
			 Norfolk 1,274 59 2,000 1,216 
			 Northamptonshire 799 65 1,500 757 
			 Northumbria 2,747 187 2,000 2,527 
			 North Yorkshire 1,194 51 2,000 1,139 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,644 149 750 1,562 
			 South Yorkshire 2,089 125 1,000 1,950 
			 Staffordshire 1,733 141 1,000 1,633 
			 Suffolk 1,213 66 3,000 1,099 
			 Surrey 1,464 44 2,000 1,403 
			 Sussex 2,430 120 2,500 2,343 
			 Thames Valley 3,884 159 4,000 3,752 
			 Warwickshire 918 33 800 890 
			 West Mercia 1,797 100 2,000 1,686 
			 West Midlands 5,233 420 2,000 4,864 
			 West Yorkshire 3,720 260 1,500 3,449 
			 Wiltshire 1,031 62 1,500 950 
			 Dyfed-Powys 995 46 2,500 920 
			 Gwent 1,149 94 3,000 1,055 
			 North Wales 1,326 76 750 1,253 
			 South Wales 2,840 211 1,500 2,646 
			 (1) Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 ss. 4 (1) and (2); 5 (1) and (b); 6 (4) and 7 (6). (2) Immediate Custody = Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment. (3) Disqualifications given as a secondary disposal. This covers cases where a disqualification from driving was given instead of a licence endorsement. This excludes cases where a defendant was disqualified under the penalty points or totting up system (s35 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988). S.35 R.T.O.A. data for specific offences at force area level are not sufficiently robust. (4) Statutory maximum fine (5,000) was issued once in both Greater Manchester and the Metropolitan police force areas. Note 1: Standard Rate maximum fine is Level 5 (5,000). Note 2: It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system being implemented by the Ministry of Justice reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. Note 3: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table D: Total findings of guilt at all courts and resultant custody, maximum fine imposed and disqualifications, for the offence of driving etc. after consuming alcohol or taking drugs(1), by police force area, England and Wales, 2004 
			Of which: 
			  Police force area  Total findings of guilt  Immediate custody( 2)  Maximum fine ()  Disqualified( 3) 
			 Avon and Somerset 2,692 145 1,200 2,599 
			 Bedfordshire 1,028 65 800 984 
			 Cambridgeshire 1,083 52 1,000 1,042 
			 Cheshire 2,128 106 1,000 1,906 
			 Cleveland 1,071 60 1,000 956 
			 Cumbria 907 50 350 845 
			 Derbyshire 1,874 143 2,000 1,748 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2,560 120 2,000 2,440 
			 Dorset 1,239 52 1,200 1,198 
			 Durham 1,277 80 750 1,179 
			 Essex 2,853 349 1,200 2,657 
			 Gloucestershire 913 38 1,500 870 
			 Greater Manchester 4,811 379 2,500 4,469 
			 Hampshire 3,743 199 4,000 3,584 
			 Hertfordshire 1,881 94 2,000 1,776 
			 Humberside 1,623 112 1,500 1,512 
			 Kent 3,010 155 2,500 2,824 
			 Lancashire 2,706 125 2,000 2,570 
			 Leicestershire 1,754 145 1,000 1,602 
			 Lincolnshire 1,209 46 1,500 1,160 
			 London, City of 169 5 1,500 164 
			 Merseyside 2,849 261 4,500 2,529 
			 Metropolitan Police 13,227 832 (4)5,000 12,346 
			 Norfolk 1,240 64 1,200 1,178 
			 Northamptonshire 922 73 2,500 878 
			 Northumbria 2,675 183 2,000 2,491 
			 North Yorkshire 1,131 40 2,500 1,054 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,669 111 2,000 1,568 
			 South Yorkshire 2,224 140 1,500 2,100 
			 Staffordshire 1,733 124 2,500 1,628 
			 Suffolk 1,332 89 3,000 1,191 
			 Surrey 1,425 51 2,000 1,385 
			 Sussex 2,368 104 2,500 2,301 
			 Thames Valley 3,539 190 4,000 3,405 
			 Warwickshire 845 23 1,000 817 
			 West Mercia 1,689 103 2,000 1,593 
			 West Midlands 5,584 423 2,000 5,229 
			 West Yorkshire 3,897 276 3,000 3,623 
			 Wiltshire 1,024 39 1,500 949 
			 Dyfed-Powys 986 47 2,000 919 
			 Gwent 1,188 69 1,500 1,108 
			 North Wales 1,349 75 1,000 1,265 
			 South Wales 2,811 222 2,500 2,666 
			 (1 )Offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988 ss. 4 (1) and (2); 5 (1) and (b); 6 (4) and 7 (6). (2 )Immediate Custody = Detention and Training Order, Young Offender Institution and Unsuspended sentence of imprisonment. (3) Disqualifications given as a secondary disposal. This covers cases where a disqualification from driving was given instead of a licence endorsement. This excludes cases where a defendant was disqualified under the penalty points or totting up system (s35 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988). S.35 R.T.O.A. data for specific offences at force area level are not sufficiently robust. (4) Statutory maximum fine (5,000) was issued once in the Metropolitan police force area only. Note 1: Standard Rate maximum fine is Level 5 (5,000). Note 2: It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is underway to ensure that the magistrates courts case management system being implemented by the Ministry of Justice reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. Note 3: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Family Conciliation Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what plans she has  (a) to promote the use of family mediation prior to the commencement of divorce proceedings and  (b) to fund an expansion of family mediation services; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: The Government believe that mediation can offer considerable advantages over going to court in the settling of family disputes, especially where children are involved. To support this, the Family Mediation Helpline (0845 60 26 627) began operating in January 2006. The helpline provides information about family mediation, advice as to the likely suitability of specific cases for mediation and details of and referrals to local mediation services. To date, the helpline has received 2,900 calls, made over 1,100 referrals to mediation services and there have been around 10,000 visits made to the supporting website at www.FamilyMediationHelpline.co.uk. In order to ensure the Helpline becomes better known, publicity materials, including a family mediation DVD produced in conjunction with National Family Mediation to provide information about family mediation to members of the public, have been widely distributed to all family courts, Citizens' Advice bureaux and family solicitors.
	There are 10 in-court referral to mediation schemes, where family mediators work together with the courts and often with CAFCASS to refer appropriate cases. We are undertaking judicial awareness seminars across England and Wales aimed at raising awareness among judges and magistrates.
	Finally, the Legal Services Commission's proposals to revise the family fee structure will remove the financial disincentives for solicitors to make referrals to mediation, which has historically been alleged by the mediation profession to be an obstacle to increasing mediation referrals. Under the proposals it would be in the interests of the solicitor to make a referral to mediation and also at an earlier stage.
	Publicly funded family mediation is available to eligible clients who have what is defined as a family dispute. If publicly funded clients are in receipt of private law family legal advice, then they are obliged to consider the use of family mediation before they proceed to a court hearing. The Legal Services Commission is actively seeking to increase the use of mediation and encourage appropriate referrals.
	At this stage, there are no plans to fund an expansion of family mediation services many of which are private businesses and run for profit.

Family Conciliation Services: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what research she has  (a) initiated and  (b) evaluated on the effectiveness of funding provided for Hampshire Family Mediation as a result of the restructuring of legal aid; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has researched the impact upon mediation services of its proposals for a revised mediation remuneration structure, which aligns the for profit (FP) and not for profit (NfP) sectors onto the same fee scheme. The partial regulatory impact assessment concluded that 70 per cent. of the 200 mediation service providers will gain financially under the proposals. In common with other mediation providers, Hampshire Family Mediation (HFM) will no longer receive the fixed annual payment in addition to fees for work done, provided for the last three years, under the transitional NfP contracting arrangements. Under the new arrangements, HFM will be paid through new increased fixed fees, which will apply equally to both FP and NfP providers.
	The LSC's proposals to revise the family fee structure will remove the financial disincentives for solicitors to make referrals to mediation, which has historically been alleged by the mediation profession to be an obstacle to increasing mediation referrals. The new family fee schemes for solicitors should encourage more and earlier referrals to mediation providers.

Home Detention Curfews

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many and what percentage of prisoners released under the home detention curfew scheme were subsequently recalled in each year since the scheme's introduction.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 4 June 2007,  Official Report, columns 219-20W, on how many and what percentage of prisoners released under the home detention curfew scheme breached the rules of their curfew and were recalled to prison in each year since 1999.

Home Detention Curfews

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many and what percentage of prisoners were released  (a) one month,  (b) two months,  (c) three months,  (d) four months,  (e) five months and  (f) six months or more before their automatic release date as part of the Home Detention Curfew scheme in each year since the scheme's introduction.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the numbers of prisoners by their respective times spent on the scheme from all prison establishments in England and Wales in each year since 1999 can be found in the following table. The maximum period under which a prisoner may be released early under the Home Detention Curfew scheme is 135 days. Prisoners are not released for longer than that period. Therefore no prisoner has been released on HDC five or six months before the end of their sentence.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			  HDC releases by time on tag under Home Detention Curfew, 1999-2006( 1) 
			   Total( 2)  Less than or equal to 1 month  Greater than 1 month to less than or equal to 2 months  Greater than 2 months to less than or equal to 3 months  Greater than 3 months to less than or equal to 4 months  Greater than 4 months to less than or equal to 4.5 months 
			  Number   
			 1999 14,800 3,800 10,700
			 2000 15,500 4,000 11,200
			 2001 13,700 3,300 9,900
			 2002 20,500 5,600 12,800 900   
			 2003 21,200 5,600 4,200 6,400 1,300 1,900 
			 2004 19,300 5,300 3,900 2,800 1,400 4,300 
			 2005 17,300 4,300 3,300 2,700 1,500 4,000 
			 2006 13,700 3,000 2,500 2,200 1,400 3,300 
			
			  Percentage   
			 1999  26 72
			 2000  26 72
			 2001  24 72
			 2002  27 62 4   
			 2003  26 20 30 6 9 
			 2004  27 20 15 7 22 
			 2005  25 19 16 9 23 
			 2006  22 18 16 10 24 
			 (1) 2006 figures are provisional and subject to change. These statistics are based on information recorded on the central prison IT system on 4 June 2007. Further updates and amendments may be made to records on this system resulting in revised figures. These figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. (2) The total includes those cases where changes to a prisoner's status, such as a recall or a new sentence, have disrupted the flow of data within the information system. For these cases it is not possible to attribute a definitive time on tag.

Legal Aid: Greater London

Diane Abbott: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many legal aid cases were funded in Greater London under  (a) the criminal and  (b) the civil legal aid scheme in the latest 12 month period for which figures are available, broken down by (i) type of case and (ii) borough.

Vera Baird: I have placed the information requested in the House of Commons Library.

Magistrates Courts: Closures

Adam Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many magistrates courts in  (a) Kent and  (b) England and Wales closed in the last 10 years for which records are available.

Harriet Harman: There have been four magistrates courts closures in Kent and 113 magistrates courts closures in England and Wales, in the last 10 years for which records are available.

Deborah Mattinson: Opinion Leader Research

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what work has been carried out for her Department or its predecessor since 2004 by  (a) Deborah Mattinson and  (b) Opinion Leader Research.

Bridget Prentice: No payments have been made directly to Deborah Mattinson. OCJR and NOMS (now part of the Ministry of JusticeMoJ) have not made any payments to OLR since becoming MoJ on 9 May. There have been four items contracted from Opinion Leader Research since 2004. Details of these, along with payments made to date, are as follows:
	
		
			  Specific OLR involvement  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Judicial diversity research report: findings of a consultation with barristers, solicitors and judge. Research contractInterviews with women and BME solicitors and barristers to determine barriers to applying for judicial posts (published)  42,917 33,399  
			  
			 Draft Coroners Bill. To act as facilitators at a one-day event seeking feedback on draft Coroners Bill.   15,490  
			  
			 The impact of changing court fees on users. Research contractExamines users' knowledge of court processes and cost, the key factors in their decision to proceed to court (not yet published)   56,964  
			  
			 Meeting Military families. To act as facilitators to a meeting with families of bereaved servicemen and women who had lost their lives in Iraq, and had been involved in the inquest process4,700 
			 Totals (inc. VAT)  42,917 105,853 4,700

Ministry of Justice Innovation Fund

David Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the value is of  (a) phase one and  (b) phase two of the Ministry of Justice Innovation Fund.

Bridget Prentice: The total amount spent on the first round of the Innovation Fund was 102,000 (including VAT). Eight projects received funding in the 2006-07 financial year.
	The total available funding budget for the second phase of the Innovation Fund is 140,000 (including VAT) to be spread over a 15-month period. Bids between 5,000 and 15,000 are being sought.

Prisons: Kent

Adam Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what the  (a) certified normal capacity for prisons in Kent and  (b) prison population in Kent is.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I believe the hon. member is referring to the certified normal accommodation (CNA), which is the uncrowded capacity.
	The CNA for each prison in Kent, excluding Dover, which holds immigration detainees, and the population for each prison, as at 4 June 2007, is set out in the following table. The total population figure includes temporary approved absences.
	
		
			  Prison  CNA  Total population 
			 Blantyre House 122 121 
			 Canterbury 196 277 
			 Cookham Wood 137 182 
			 East Sutton Park 98 98 
			 Elmley 753 986 
			 Maidstone 559 584 
			 Rochester 392 390 
			 Standford Hill 464 432 
			 Swaleside 756 779 
			 Total 3,477 3,849

Prisons: Rochester

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice if she will make a statement on planning permission for the proposed prison in Rochester.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The HMP Rochester project to provide an additional 300 places forms a part of a major programme to expand prison capacity. NOMS original planning application was submitted in early April 2007 and a revised application, which took into account certain local concerns, was submitted to the local planning authority in late May 2007. NOMS awaits the local planning authority's determination which is expected in late June 2007.

Probation: Redundancy

Edward Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice whether any  (a) assistant chief officers,  (b) business managers and  (c) staff of other grades will be made (i) compulsorily and (ii) voluntarily redundant in (A) the Greater London Probation Area and (B) other probation areas in England and Wales in 2007-08.

Gerry Sutcliffe: London Probation Area is in the process of restructuring and as part of that exercise has considered the appropriate levels of staffing at management levels. As a consequence assistant chief officers, business managers and directors from the area are facing possible redundancy. Currently figures from London indicate that there will be a loss of 13 assistant chief officer posts, two director posts and 10 business manager posts. Expressions of interest for voluntary redundancies are being considered. Where possible, London will seek to avoid compulsory redundancies.
	There are four other Probation Areas, Cheshire, Devon and Cornwall, Dyfed Powys and Thames Valley that have indicated they are considering the possibility of redundancies within the 2007-08 time frame. These redundancies will equate to 27 posts across a range of posts including middle managers and probation service officers. Again, where possible, compulsory redundancies will be avoided.

Sentencing

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of lifer programmes in dealing with prisoners on an indefinite sentence of public protection with a short minimum term;
	(2)  how many and what percentage of prisoners on an indefinite sentence of public protection are part of a lifer programme; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: pursuant to the reply, 15 May 2007, Official Report, c. 711W
	I erroneously informed the hon. Member that of the 8,300 completions of accredited offending behaviour programmes in custody in 2006-07, approximately 320 were by prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of public protection. The latter figure should in fact have read approximately 460 completions. Taking account of those who completed more than one course, this involved approximately 420 prisoners.
	The reason for the error is that the earlier information did not relate to a full year.

Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal

John Mann: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 
	(1)  on how many occasions the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal sat in 2006;
	(2)  what the longest current delay is of any case awaiting resolution at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Bridget Prentice: The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has advised that it sat for 178 days from 1 May 2006 to 30 April 2007 and for 136 days in the same period for 2005-06.
	Information on the case which has been awaiting a substantive hearing for the longest period of time is not available.
	However, the Tribunal has advised that cases are delayed for a number of reasons including: non-availability of witnesses; illness of respondents; and non-availability of legal representatives.
	An additional four new lay members and 11 new solicitor members have recently been appointed to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. This brings the total number of members of the tribunal to 49, which will enable it to sit more frequently.

Standford Hill Prison: Prisoner Escapes

Edward Garnier: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice how many prisoners absconded from  (a) HMP Standford Hill and  (b) HMP Sudbury in each year since 1997; and how many of those remain at large in each case.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information on the number of absconds is set out in the following table and covers the period from 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2007. Figures for 2006-07 are provisional and subject to validation. Currently there is no central record of absconders who are subsequently returned to custody. Recaptures reflect police rather than Prison Service performance and these data have not been held centrally for this reason.
	
		
			   Standford Hill  Sudbury 
			 1997-98 35 81 
			 1998-99 40 75 
			 1999-2000 43 63 
			 2000-01 29 69 
			 2001-02 37 81 
			 2002-03 83 68 
			 2003-04 89 75 
			 2004-05 39 77 
			 2005-06 58 76 
			 2006-07 38 78

Young Offenders: Education

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Minister of State, Ministry of Justice what representations she has received on the level of education given to young female offenders; what response she has made to those representations; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
	I understand that the Ministry of Justice has received no representations on the level of education given to young female offenders.
	However, the Department for Education and Skills has launched a consultation on the issues affecting the education of all young people supervised by the youth justice system and is undertaking a series of consultation events and visits. The consultation closes on 4 July. The responses will inform proposals for reform, which will be published by the end of this year.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether Illarian Stepanovich Borodine remains in the UK following the refusal on 24 January 2002 of his application for asylum; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 4 June 2007
	It is not our policy to comment on individual cases.

Asylum

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what non-financial support is provided to failed asylum seekers.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 3 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1871W.
	In addition, grant funded voluntary sector agencies provide advice and assistance to asylum seekers and to those who have exhausted appeal rights. The International Organization for Migration provides advice and assistance under the Voluntary Assisted Returns and Reintegration Programme.

Asylum: Bromsgrove

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers reside in Bromsgrove constituency.

Liam Byrne: Information on decision outcomes relating to asylum seekers in particular areas of the UK is not available.
	If an asylum application has been finally determined as refused, but the asylum seeker is destitute and there are reasons that temporarily prevent them from leaving the United Kingdom then they can be eligible for support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. As at the March 2007 there were 8,780 applicants, excluding dependants, in receipt of section 4 support in the UK. Further regional breakdowns are not available.
	Statistics regarding the location of asylum seekers in receipt of support are available. As at the end of March 2007 there were no asylum seekers in receipt of support in Bromsgrove constituency.
	The numbers of asylum seekers in receipt of support, broken down by Government Office Region and local authority, and those in receipt of section 4 support are published on a quarterly and annual basis. The latest publication, covering the first quarter of 2007, is available on the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	Further breakdowns, of those in receipt of support, by parliamentary constituency, are also available from the Library of the House.

Asylum: Religion

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many asylum seekers sought asylum in the UK on grounds of religious persecution in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many asylum seekers who have converted to Christianity while in the UK sought asylum on religious persecution grounds in each of the last three years for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many failed asylum seekers who have subsequently changed their religion made the basis of their appeal the fear of religious persecution, in the last three years for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: This information is not available and could be obtained by examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on asylum applications, initial decisions and appeals by nationality are published quarterly and annually. Copies of these publications are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum: Repatriation

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are taken into account when assessing the safety of a country for repatriating failed asylum seekers and immigrants.

Liam Byrne: Each asylum and human rights claim is considered on its individual merits in accordance with our international obligations and full account is taken of conditions in the country concerned as they impact on the individual. Information obtained from a wide range of governmental and non-governmental and human rights organisation sources is provided to asylum claim decision makers by means of Country of Origin Information Reports, which are published on a regular basis.

British Nationality

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate his Department has made of the number of foreign nationals resident in the UK who were born before 1961 to British mothers and foreign fathers.

Liam Byrne: No such estimate has been made.

British Nationality

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of those foreign nationals now resident in the UK who were born to British mothers and foreign fathers before 1961 applied for British citizenship on average in each year since 2001.

Liam Byrne: The information requested could only be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.

CCTV

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to police authorities on the use of the closed circuit television camera system codenamed the Bug.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 April 20007
	 The Home Office is aware of this product, but has not issued guidance to the police in relation to it, nor has any current plans to evaluate it.

Citizenship

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been granted citizenship at his discretion when they do not meet the other criterion stated in the British Nationality Act 1981, in the last 12 months; and on what grounds.

Liam Byrne: There are a number of requirements for naturalisation as a British citizen, some of which are discretionary and some of which are mandatory. Naturalisation is never awarded where one of the mandatory requirements has not been met.

Crime Prevention: Macclesfield

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what priorities he has set for reducing crime in the Macclesfield borough in the Cheshire constabulary east division; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: A target has been agreed with the Macclesfield CDRP for a reduction in British Crime Survey comparator crime of 15 per cent. between 2003-04 and 2007-08. It is for the local area to set specific crime type priorities within that overall target.

Departments: Consultants

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the outside  (a) agencies and  (b) consultancies which are undertaking work commissioned by his Department; and what the (i) purpose and (ii) cost is of each commission.

Liam Byrne: To identify current outside consultancies which are commissioned by the Department and live contracts with employment agencies, together with their purpose and cost for each, would incur disproportionate cost. Current management systems do not allow effective cross referencing across all parts of the Home Office and its Agencies as this is not a standard business requirement.
	Consultancies provide advice and guidance in a broad range of areas from business change to technical analysis. Typically agency staff are used to fill time bound requirements for additional or specially skilled resources in areas such as project and programme work, seasonal work (such as passport issue) and to provide cover for staff absent on leave and sickness.

Departments: Data Protection

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times his Department was found to have been in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The definition of 'found to have been in breach' can be broad. Depending on their nature, breaches by Government Departments of the Data Protection Act 1998 can be dealt with by the Information Commissioner, the Courts or by Departments at an informal local level.
	The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Epilepsy

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people with epilepsy are employed by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Although the Home Office has a figure of the number of people it employs who have declared a disability, this is not broken down into specific types such as epilepsy.
	The department has a disability awareness guide for managers and colleagues of staff with epilepsy which was produced in consultation with the National Society for Epilepsy. The guide gives advice on best practice on working with staff with epilepsy as well as pointers on where to go for further advice and information.

Departments: Greater London

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department's responsibilities are with respect to London; what responsibilities he holds jointly with the Mayor of London; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Home Office is responsible for leading a national effort to protect the public from terror, crime and antisocial behaviour. We secure our borders and welcome legal migrants and visitors. We safeguard identity and citizenship. We help build the security, justice and respect that enable people to prosper in a free and tolerant society. These responsibilities are primarily national and therefore include London.
	There are no functions under the GLA Act 1999 that the Home Office shares specifically with the Mayor of London. The GLA Act 1999 did, however, in amending the Police Act 1996, empower the Secretary of State (in this case the Home Secretary) to recommend the appointment of the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to the Queen (s. 9B of the 1996 Act), recommend the appointment of the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis to the Queen (s. 9D of the 1996 Act) and appoint one member of the Metropolitan Police Authority (para 3 (2) of schedule 2A to the 1996 Act). (The revisions made to the 1996 Act by the Police and Justice Act 2006 also provide for one member of that Authority to be appointed by the Secretary of State). In addition the GLA Act 1999 enables the Home Secretary to set a greater component budget requirement for the Metropolitan Police Authority to restore or maintain an efficient and effective police force (s.95 of the 1999 Act).

Departments: Pay

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was paid in bonuses to members of his Department in the last year for which figures are available; how many people received bonuses; on what basis those bonuses were paid; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Where it is available, the information requested is recorded in the following tables.
	Within the Home Office and its agencies there are separate arrangements for awarding bonuses. Staff may receive annual, appraisal-related awards based on their exceptional contribution throughout the year, or special bonuses for exceptional, specific work. Senior civil servants can be awarded bonuses as set out in the Senior Salaries Review Body report number 62.
	
		
			   2005-06 
			 Amount paid () 3,612,916 
			 Number paid 5,014 
			 Total staff (headcount) 25,343 
			  Notes:  1. The data for appraisal-related bonus payments is included only for Home Office HQ and Border and Immigration Agency (BIA).  2. The table does not include:  The data for the public sector Prison Service is excluded as it can be provided only at disproportionate cost.  Identity and Passport Agency (IPS) does not run an appraisal-related bonus scheme.  3. Data for special bonus payments is included only for the senior civil service (for the whole Department and its agencies) and IPS for certain bonuses where information is available  4. Data recorded for performance appraisal payments relates to the previous reporting year and not the financial year in which the bonuses themselves were paid.  5. Staffing data is for those in Home Office HQ and BIA and all senior civil servants in the Department and its agencies, including IPS.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total value of private finance initiative projects included in his Department's balance sheet  (a) is in 2007 and  (b) was in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Liam Byrne: Nil. All the Department's PFI deals are off balance sheet.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what value of annual private finance initiative payments by his Department was classified as  (a) identifiable and  (b) non-identifiable in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Liam Byrne: All payments made under PFI are identifiable. Prior to a PFI contract being signed the profile of unitary charge payments is agreed between the contractor and the public sector, subject to the operation of the payment mechanism.

Departments: Private Finance Initiative

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what value of annual private finance initiative (PFI) payments was  (a) to repay capital and  (b) expenditure on other parts of each PFI contract in each of the last five years, broken down by project.

Liam Byrne: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Deportations: Iran

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were requested to complete an application for a travel document from the Iranian embassy with a view to deportation in each of the last five years; how many have done so; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The information requested could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual records at disproportionate cost. On 19 February the chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency wrote to the Home Affairs Committee to provide the most recent information available on the deportation of foreign national prisoners. A copy of this letter is available from the Library of the House.

Deportations: Iran

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons were deported to Iran in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Information on the destination of persons removed from the UK has only been recorded since the start of 2004.
	The number of persons removed from the UK to Iran was 265 in 2004 and 435 in 2005. These figures include people departing voluntarily after enforcement action had been initiated against them and people leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. 2005 removal figures also include those who it is established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. These figures have been rounded to the nearest five.
	The number of persons removed from the UK in 2006 will be published in August on the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics website at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Foreign Workers: Yorkshire

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from other EU countries are working in  (a) West and  (b) North Yorkshire, broken down by country of origin.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 The information requested could be obtained by the detailed examination of individual case records only at disproportionate cost.
	Available information on workers from EU countries is contained in the Accession Monitoring Report and the Bulgarian and Romanian Accession Report.
	Both reports provide some detailed information by region but not for the specific areas requested.
	Both reports are available on the Border and Immigration Agency website by following the links:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/accession_monitoring_report
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/bulgarianandromanianaccession

Forensic Science Service

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance has been issued to police forces in England and Wales with regard to the use of the Forensic Science Service for forensic work; and if he will place such guidance in the Library.

Tony McNulty: The Forensic Science Service is one of a number of providers of forensic science to the police service. It is a matter for individual forces to determine which providers to employ. No specific guidance has been issued on the use of the Forensic Science Service.

Forensic Science Service

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police forces in England and Wales are discouraged from sending more than 60 per cent. of their forensic work to the Forensic Science Service.

Tony McNulty: The procurement of forensic science services is a matter for individual police forces. The Forensic Science Service is one of a number of service providers in the market. It is open to forces to decide what proportion of their requirement should be awarded to the Forensic Science Service.

Freedom of Information

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs on the application of Freedom of Information regulations to private companies performing public services.

Liam Byrne: In the course of official business I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a wide range of issues.

Health Professions: Foreign Workers

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits have been issued for  (a) doctors and  (b) nurses and auxiliary nurses from (i) Nigeria, (ii) Ghana and (iii) other African countries since 2005.

Liam Byrne: Table 1 shows the number of work permit applications which were approved for overseas nationals, in the period 1 January 2005 to 31 March 2007 from  (a) Ghana,  (b) Nigeria and  (c) other African countries.
	The list details countries that have been included in the category entitled Other African Countries.
	There have been no approvals for African countries for auxiliary nurses.
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			  Table 1 
			   Doctor  Nurse  Total 
			 Ghana 34 969 1,003 
			 Nigeria 211 1,854 2,065 
			 Other African countries 921 9,743 10,664 
			 Total 1,166 12,566 13,732 
		
	
	 African Countries other than Nigeria and Ghana includes:
	Algeria
	Angola
	Benin
	Botswana
	Burkina Faso
	Burundi
	Cameroon
	Cape Verde
	Central African Republic
	Chad
	Comoros
	Congo
	Djibouti
	Egypt
	Equatorial Guinea
	Eritrea
	Ethiopia
	Gabon
	Gambia
	Guinea
	Guinea Bissau
	Ivory Coast
	Kenya
	Lesotho
	Liberia
	Libya
	Madagascar
	Malawi
	Mali
	Mauritania
	Mauritius
	Morocco
	Mozambique
	Namibia
	Niger
	Reunion
	Rwanda
	Sao Tome  Principe
	Senegal Seychelles
	Sierra Leone
	Somalia
	South Africa
	Sudan
	Swaziland
	Tanzania
	Togo
	Tunisia
	Uganda
	Zaire
	Zimbabwe

Illegal Immigrants: Crime

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of people convicted of a crime in Lancashire in each of the last five years were illegal immigrants.

Liam Byrne: Information on the immigration status of offenders is not held centrally on the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform; therefore data on the number of illegal immigrants convicted of an offence are not available.

Immigrants

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to determine the application of Mrs. Zainabu Reed (ref M1037442) for leave to remain in the UK.

Liam Byrne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 23 May 2007.

Immigrants

Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the new Border and Security Agency to clear outstanding  (a) exceptional leave to remain and  (b) 14-year rule applications.

Liam Byrne: Following the IND Review there is an ongoing programme to identify and clear arrears of casework across the whole of the Border and Immigration Agency, including exceptional leave to remain and 14-year rule applications. Resources have been diverted to some areas where backlogs exist in order to improve performance. This work is continuing. Clearance timescales are not yet resolved.

Immigration: Skilled Workers

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which categories of individual are awarded fast track status through UK immigration and customs procedures;
	(2)  what the application process is for the award of fast track status through UK immigration and customs procedures at UK airports.

Liam Byrne: No individual is given privileged entry treatment by the Border and Immigration Agency when entering the United Kingdom.
	The airport operator at Heathrow funds the staffing of Fast Track Immigration Controls. Fast Track offers travellers selected by participating airlines a discrete channel to the Immigration Control. The decision about who receives a fast track 'ticket' for this service is not an immigration one. At the Immigration Control, all persons seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom must satisfy the Immigration Officer that they qualify for entry in accordance with the Immigration Rules and will comply with any conditions attached to their leave.
	IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) is delivering a biometrically controlled automated border entry system for pre-registered travellers at selected ports in the United Kingdom. This initiative is part of the eBorders programme. All passengers enrolling are subject to rigorous checks to confirm nationality, identity and eligibility to enter the UK. This mirrors those checks conducted on arrival. Further information on IRIS is available from:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/iris/
	There is no Fast Track procedure for HM Revenue and Customs.

Members: Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley of 9 March regarding Mr. Randhawn of Oldburg.

Liam Byrne: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 24 May 2007.

Migrant Workers: Agriculture

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many farmers receiving single farm payments in the UK applied for work permits for overseas workers in  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not available. Border and Immigration Agency databases do not hold information that identifies employers/farmers who receive 'single farm payments'.

Police: Databases

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his response to the answer of 26 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1076W, on the police national computer, if he will place in the Library a copy of  (a) the audits conducted in August 2002 and  (b) the Home Office report to Lord Falconer.

Tony McNulty: I have arranged for a copy of the two audit reports referred to and summarised in the answer to the hon. Gentleman to be placed in the Library. Further to my previous reply the audits were two research exercises undertaken by the Home Office in 2001 and 2002 to assess the accuracy of conviction information recorded on the Police National Computer partly in preparation for the establishment of the Criminal Records Bureau. The reports and a supplementary report were released in 2006 in response to a Freedom of Information request. The report to Lord Falconer was in the form of advice to Ministers and as is the convention, such advice is not published.

Police: Retirement

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department at what age  (a) male and  (b) female police officers are able to retire on a full pension.

Tony McNulty: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 27 November 2006,  Official Report, column 399W to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws). There is no difference between the pension ages of male and female officers.

Police: Road Traffic Control

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dedicated traffic police officers there were in England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The numbers of dedicated traffic police officers are not collected centrally. The available data are the number of full time equivalent police officers primarily employed in the function traffic.
	The available data are given in the table.
	
		
			  Police officers (FTE)( 1)  whose main function is traffic( 2)  (1996-97 to 2005-06) 
			   England and Wales 
			 1996-97(3)  
			 1997-98(3)  
			 1998-99 7,525 
			 1999-2000 7,238 
			 2000-01 7,005 
			 2002-03 6,902 
			 2003-04 6,706 
			 2004-05 7,104 
			 2005-06 6,511 
			 (1) This and other tables contain full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The traffic function includes staff who are predominantly employed on motorcycles or in patrol vehicles for the policing of traffic and motorway related duties. This does not include officers employed in accident investigation, vehicle examination and radar duties. (3) Data are not available for 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Police: Technology

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to use technology to modernise the operations of police forces.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office is fully committed to driving continuous improvement across policing as a whole in order to deliver better services to the public. Where necessary and operationally practical, this will include the promotion of technological innovations that aid the prevention and detection of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Security Measures

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made on each of the 12 points outlined by the Prime Minister as security measures on 5 August 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The progress that has been made on each of the 12 points is set out as follows.
	
		
			  Progress on Prime Minister's 12 point plan 
			  Measure  Progress 
			 1. Introduce new grounds for deportation and exclusion. Since the introduction of the new grounds of Unacceptable Behaviour for deportation and exclusion, 52 individuals have been excluded from the UK and 1 deported. A further 62 exclusion and 5 deportation cases are under consideration. 
			 2. To create an offence of condoning or glorifying terrorism. The Terrorism Act 2006 includes the new offence of encouraging terrorism, including glorifying terrorism, which is now in force. 
			 3. To refuse asylum in this country automatically to anyone who has participated in terrorism. Section 54 in the IAN Act allows us to deny asylum to terrorists while respecting our obligations under the Refugee Treaty. Section 55 in the Act allows the Secretary of State to certify that an appellant is not entitled to the protection of the Refugee Convention. 
			 4. To consult on extending the powers to strip citizenship, applying them to British citizens engaged in extremism and making the procedures more effective. A provision included in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 lowers the bar for removal of citizenship by replacing one of the existing criteria with a new power to deprive where such action is held by the Home Secretary to be conducive to the public good. The power came into force on16 June 2006. One person has been deprived under this new power. Several other cases are being actively pursued having been identified as priority cases by Security Service and the Special Cases Oversight Board. 
			 5. To consult on setting a maximum time limit for all future extradition cases involving terrorism. Rashid Ramda extradited. A working group chaired by the Home Office with membership from CPS, HMCS, SOCA and other stakeholders is meeting bi-monthly to monitor developments in cases and remove obstacles to progress. 
			 6. To examine a new court procedure to allow a pre-trial process. We are currently examining ways of allowing more sensitive material in court. The maximum period of pre-charge detention has been extended to 28 days in the Terrorism Act 2006 
			 7. To extend the use of control orders for those who are British nationals and cannot be deported. There are 17 orders currently in force, 8 of which are in respect of British citizens. Control orders continue to be an essential tool to address the threat posed by suspected terrorists who cannot currently be prosecuted or, in respect of foreign nationals, who cannot be removed from the UK. 
			 8. To expand the court capacity to deal with control orders. Work continues to review the capacity of the courts, specialist tribunals and the judiciary to deal with existing and anticipated caseload relating to terrorism. 
			 9. To proscribe Hizb-ut Tahrir and the successor organisation of Al Mujahiroun. The Terrorism Act 2006 widens the criteria for proscription. Two of the successor organisations to Al Mujahiroun were proscribed in July 2006. 
			 10. To review the acquisition of British Citizenship to make sure that it is adequate and to establish with the Muslim community a commission to advise on better integration. We have extended the requirement to be of good character to virtually all applicants for British citizenship. The relevant provision, section 58 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, was commenced on 4 December 2006. We are also looking at extending the checks carried out to establish good character. 
			  The Commission on Integration and Cohesion was launched on 24 August 2006. It will report in mid-June 2007. 
			 11. To consult on a new power to order closure of a place of worship which is used as a centre for fermenting extremism and to consult with Muslim leaders in respect of those clerics who are not British Citizens to draw up a list of those not suitable to preach and who will be excluded from our country in the future. The public consultation on taking powers to close a place of worship resulted in a decision not to legislate at this stage. This decision was announced to Parliament on 15 December 2005. 
			  The Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board (MINAB) was launched on 27 June 2006. We work closely with MINAB to ensure that they meet the challenge of their role as the national body with responsibility for mosques and imams. 
			  MINAB has committed itself to making early progress in five core areas: the accreditation of imams; the development of leadership skills for imams and mosque officials; progress in the inclusion of young people and women; improvement in the governance of mosques; and supporting mosques to contribute to community cohesion and to combating extremism. 
			 12. To bring forward the proposed measures on the security of our borders with a series of countries specifically designated for biometric visas over the next year By end 2007, all visa applicants (100 nationalities) will be required to provide biometric data (10 fingerscan and digital photograph) wherever in the world they apply for a UK visa. The equipment and process changes to enable this will be deployed overseas between autumn 2006 and the end of 2007. We are currently collecting biometric data from all visa applicants in 67 countries and checking the data against records held on the Border and Immigration Agency's Immigration Fingerprint Service database. The intention is that in due course all fingerscans will be checked against the Border and Immigration Agency's Immigration and Asylum Fingerprint Service database held in the UK, and the police national database, prior to reaching a decision on the visa application.

Teachers: Foreign Workers

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits were issued for teachers and lecturers from  (a) Africa,  (b) Asia,  (c) Latin America and  (d) the Caribbean in each year since 2000.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 The following table and list shows the number of work permit applications which were approved for overseas nationals, in the period 1 January 2000 to 31 March 2007 from  (a) Africa,  (b) Asia  (c) Latin America and  (d) the Caribbean.
	
		
			  Work permit approvals 2000 to March 2007 
			   Lecturer  Teacher  Total  Total 
			  2000 
			 Africa 50 340 390 (1) 
			 Asia 160 80 235 (1) 
			 Latin America 15 5 20 (1) 
			 Caribbean (2) 20 5 (1) 
			 Total 225 440 665 (1) 
			  
			  2001 
			 Africa 65 2,485 2,550 (1) 
			 Asia 155 285 440 (1) 
			 Latin America 15 40 55 (1) 
			 Caribbean 5 460 460 (1) 
			 Total 240 3,265 3,510 (1) 
			  
			  2002 
			 Africa 80 3,380 3,460 (1) 
			 Asia 210 535 745 (1) 
			 Latin America 30 65 95 (1) 
			 Caribbean 5 620 625 (1) 
			 Total 325 4,600 4,925 (1) 
			  
			  2003 
			 Africa 80 2,265 2,345 (1) 
			 Asia 295 370 665 (1) 
			 Latin America 30 50 75 (1) 
			 Caribbean 5 595 600 (1) 
			 Total 410 3,280 3,690 (1) 
			  
			  2004 
			 Africa 105 1,680 1,790 (1) 
			 Asia 265 390 655 (1) 
			 Latin America 30 35 65 (1) 
			 Caribbean 10 415 425 (1) 
			 Total 410 2,525 2,935 (1) 
			  
			  2005 
			 Africa 110 1,425 1,530 (1) 
			 Asia 290 365 660 (1) 
			 Latin America 35 60 95 (1) 
			 Caribbean 10 350 360 (1) 
			 Total 445 2,200 2,645 (1) 
			  
			  2006 
			 Africa 80 1,225 1,305 (1) 
			 Asia 340 390 730 (1) 
			 Latin America 30 40 70 (1) 
			 Caribbean 10 310 320 (1) 
			 Total 460 1,970 2,430 (1) 
			  
			  2007( 3) 
			 Africa 20 200 220 (1) 
			 Asia 70 70 140 (1) 
			 Latin America 5 (2) 5 485 
			 Caribbean (2) 40 40 (1) 
			 Total 90 315 410 (1) 
			 (1 )Indicates Nil (2 )Indicates 1 or 2 (3) January to March  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to nearest 5. 2. Because of rounding, figures may not add up to totals shown. 
		
	
	 Africa
	Angola
	Burundi
	Benin
	Burkina Faso
	Botswana
	Central African Republic
	Ivory Coast
	Cameroon
	Congo
	Comoros
	Cape Verde
	Djibouti
	Algeria
	Egypt
	Eritrea
	Ethiopia
	Gabon
	Ghana
	Guinea
	Gambia
	Guinea Bissau
	Equatorial Guinea
	Kenya
	Liberia
	Libya
	Lesotho
	Morocco
	Madagascar
	Mali
	Mozambique
	Mauritania
	Mauritius
	Malawi
	Namibia
	Niger
	Nigeria
	Reunion
	Rwanda
	Sudan
	Senegal
	Sierra Leone
	Somalia
	Sao Tome  Principe
	Swaziland
	Seychelles
	Chad
	Togo
	Tunisia
	Tanzania
	Uganda
	South Africa
	Zaire
	Zambia
	Zimbabwe
	 Asia
	Bangladesh
	Bhutan
	Cambodia
	China
	Hong Kong
	India
	Indonesia
	Japan
	Laos
	Malaysia
	Maldives
	Mongolia
	Myanmar
	Nepal
	Pakistan
	Philippines
	Singapore
	North Korea
	South Korea
	Sri Lanka
	Taiwan
	Thailand
	Vietnam
	 Latin America
	Argentina
	Bolivia
	Brazil
	Chile
	Colombia
	Ecuador
	Guyana
	Paraguay
	Peru
	Surinam
	Uruguay
	Venezuela
	 Caribbean
	Antigua
	Bahamas
	Barbados
	Bermuda
	Cuba
	Dominica
	Grenada
	Jamaica
	Haiti
	Montserrat
	St. Kitts
	St. Lucia
	St. Vincent
	Trinidad  Tobago

West Midlands Police: Standards

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of police time was spent on frontline duties by West Midlands police in each year since 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 : Information on the time spent by police officers on front-line duties in the West Midlands police is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Time spent on front-line duties (percentage) 
			 2003-04 (baseline year) 62.20 
			 2004-05 63.60 
			 2005-06 61.80 
			 2007-08 (force target) 73.10

Written Questions

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to answer question 128690, on migrant workers and the school age children of migrant workers, tabled by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham on 20th March.

Liam Byrne: I replied to the hon. Member 23 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1330W.

Written Questions

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question tabled on 3 May on children applying for asylum status; and what the reasons are for the delay in answering.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 4 June 2007
	 I replied to the hon. Member on 22 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1241W.

Yarl's Wood Detention Centre

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with Serco on its management of complaints received on the treatment of women detainees at Yarl's Wood.

Liam Byrne: All complaints are dealt with under a Detention Service Order (DSO). The complaints DSO 7/2006 clearly defines the way complaints are handled, with a right of appeal to the Prison and Probation Ombudsman.
	Border and Immigration Agency staff at Yarl's Wood spend time on the accommodation units and closely monitor the care and welfare of detainees. I am placing a copy of the DSO in the House of Commons Library.

Yarl's Wood Detention Centre

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent steps he has taken to improve the treatment of women detainees at Yarl's Wood.

Liam Byrne: The contract that exists between the Home Office and Serco outlines the Border and Immigration Agency's requirements in regard to the services provided to detainees. The contract is underpinned by an ethos of improving services to the detainees both in terms of care and safety.
	A bi-weekly meeting is in place to support direct communication between detainees and the managers of the centre. There is also a system of suggestion and comments books located on accommodation units to allow women and families to give a steer on the services and activities they would enjoy. This system has already resulted in an agreement to produce a weekly newsletter highlighting activities and service changes.

TREASURY

Business: Education

Tony Baldry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees were involved in the Enterprise Summer School scheme in 2006; and how many are expected to be involved in 2007.

Jim Knight: I have been asked to reply.
	We know from Young Enterprise that 236 businesses and other organisations were involved in the funding of the summer schools Pathfinders, and that on average at least two staff members from each company/organisation volunteered, so we would estimate that 472 individual employees were involved.
	We have no plans at present for a second round of such enterprise summer schools in 2007, but are considering options for future years.

Constituency Size

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) actual and  (b) percentage change in the size of the electorate in each parliamentary constituency was between the last two years for which figures are available, grouped according to region and listed in descending order according to percentage change.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 5 June 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question concerning what the (a) actual and (b) percentage change in the size of the electorate in each parliamentary constituency was between the last two years for which figures are available, grouped according to region and listed in descending order according to percentage change. I am replying in her absence. (140143)
	The attached table shows the actual and percentage change for parliamentary electors by parliamentary constituency between 1 December 2005 and 1 December 2006 and are sorted by percentage change in descending order by UK Country and Government Office Region in England. A copy of the table has been placed in the House of Commons Library.